Matrix Produces Strong Structural Materials

bunches of green and beige drying flax stems bundled together

Biological Strategy

Cultivated flax

AskNature Team

Image: John Lord / Flickr / CC BY - Creative Commons Attribution alone

Manage Tension

When a living system is under tension, it means there is a force pulling on it, like a person pulling on a rope tied to a horse. When applied to a living system, unless the system is completely rigid, the result is that it gets stretched. If stretching exceeds the strength of the living system’s material, it can damage it. Living systems manage tension using materials that are flexible and stretchable enough to survive most tension that occurs in their environment. The ocean’s intertidal zone offers a good example. The waves and incoming and outgoing tides put tension on soft-bodied organisms. Mussels resist tension with flexible threads that hold them onto rocks; in contrast, large algae have stretchy fronds.

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Chemically Assemble Polymers

We might think that complex polymers are the result of human industrial ingenuity, but nature cornered the market on polymers billions of years earlier. Examples of biopolymers are proteins, carbohydrates, and genetic material. In contrast to human industrial processes, within a cell, ribosomes covalently bond amino acids together to form proteins.

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Flowering Plants

Clade Angiosperms (“receptacle seed”): Dandelions, oaks, grasses, cacti, apples

With 416 families containing some 300,000 known species, angiosperms are the most diverse group of plants, and they can be found around the globe in a wide variety of habitats. They are characterized by seeds that grow enclosed in ovaries, which are enclosed in flowers. The floral organs then develop into fruits of myriad kinds and dimensions, from simple seed casings on maples to elaborate fleshy growths like papayas. The oldest flower known from fossils, Montsechia vidalii, appeared during the Jurassic Period 130 million years ago. They are the primary food source for herbivorous animals, which in turn makes them the indirect food source for carnivores as well.

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Fibers produced by the flax plant provide strength by being extensively cross-linked composites of cellulose, pectin, and protein in a long, tube-like architecture.

Flax fiber has been used for millenia throughout the world for the production of linen textile. Its strength and desirable properties are a result of its microscopic structure and chemistry. Flax fibers are relatively long, tube-like composites (up to about 5 cm, or 2 inches) of supplemented by pectin and other polysaccharides, lined up in the direction of the tube, surrounded by concentric layers of cells forming a super-strong secondary wall. Extensive cross-linking, aided by the presence of several types of s, binds all the components into an intricate matrix.