Synthesis and mechanical behavior of bioinspired ZrO2–organic nacre-like laminar nanocomposites

Uniform and well ordered zirconium oxide–organic nacre-like nanocomposites were synthesized by sequential solution deposition of zirconium oxide and organic LbL layers. The width of zirconia in threefold nanostructures was 75 nm, 95 nm and 170 nm, while the thickness of organic layer was 14 nm. A solution-deposited bulk zirconia layer with a thickness of 1 μm served as a reference material. Mechanical properties measured using a depth-sensing nanoindentation technique exhibited systematic increase in hardness and reduced modulus of nanocomposites compared to the bulk sample. The measured hardness was 1.1 GPa, 0.77 GPa, 0.56 GPa, respectively and 0.55 GPa for the bulk sample. Reduced modulus of the same samples was 23 GPa, 17 GPa, 13 GPa, respectively and 12 GPa for the bulk sample.