Tough metal-ceramic composites with multifunctional nacre-like architecture

The brick-and-mortar architecture of biological nacre has inspired the development of synthetic composites with enhanced fracture toughness and multiple functionalities. While the use of metals as the “mortar” phase is an attractive option to maximize fracture toughness of bulk composites, non-mechanical functionalities potentially enabled by the presence of a metal in the structure remain relatively limited and unexplored. Using iron as the mortar phase, we develop and investigate nacre-like composites with high fracture toughness and stiffness combined with unique magnetic, electrical and thermal functionalities. Such metal-ceramic composites are prepared through the sol–gel deposition of iron-based coatings on alumina platelets and the magnetically-driven assembly of the pre-coated platelets into nacre-like architectures, followed by pressure-assisted densification at 1450 °C. With the help of state-of-the-art characterization techniques, we show that this processing route leads to lightweight inorganic structures that display outstanding fracture resistance, show noticeable magnetization and are amenable to fast induction heating. Materials with this set of properties might find use in transport, aerospace and robotic applications that require weight minimization combined with magnetic, electrical or thermal functionalities.