Squid beak insight for new material

Inspired by the squid beak, researchers in the US have created a lightweight composite from naturally abundant components that can be rigid at one end yet bendy at the other.

With a chitin beak and serrated chitin teeth on their arms and tentacles, nothing showcases biopolymer versatility quite like the giant squid. Marco Rolandi and co-workers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the University of Washington, Seattle, have looked to this natural phenomenon to give insight into devising lightweight materials with exceptional mechanical properties.

This article provides a link to coverage by Chemistry World.