Programmed cryogenic fabrication of cuttlebone-inspired lightweight cellular materials with enhanced energy absorption.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 42409793.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-026-75241-z.
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Abstract
Lightweight engineering materials with high energy absorption are critical for various strategic fields. However, designing cellular materials that overcome the trade-off between density and energy dissipation remains challenging. Inspired by the wall-septum architecture of cuttlebone, we develop a lightweight cellular epoxy resin using a facile layer-by-layer freezing technique. The resulting material exhibits high compressive strength and specific energy absorption, reaching 34.5 J g<sup>-1</sup> at a density of 0.55 g cm<sup>-3</sup>. The dense septa between porous wall layers in the wall-septum structure enhance structural stability against wall buckling and provide lateral confinement during compression. Such architecture also improves high-strain-rate impact strength, achieving 190% and 66% increase in dynamic specific energy absorption compared to conventional isotropic and unidirectional structures, respectively. Large-size energy-absorbing epoxy panels are readily fabricated and demonstrate impact protection performance under high-speed impact. This work provides a practical route to lightweight cellular materials with improved energy absorption efficiency.