A strong integrated strength and toughness artificial nacre based on dopamine cross-linked graphene oxide.

Demands of the strong integrated materials have substantially increased across various industries. Inspired by the relationship of excellent integration of mechanical properties and hierarchical nano/microscale structure of the natural nacre, we have developed a strategy for fabricating the strong integrated artificial nacre based on graphene oxide (GO) sheets by dopamine cross-linking via evaporation-induced assembly process. The tensile strength and toughness simultaneously show 1.5 and 2 times higher than that of natural nacre. Meanwhile, the artificial nacre shows high electrical conductivity. This type of strong integrated artificial nacre has great potential applications in aerospace, flexible supercapacitor electrodes, artificial muscle, and tissue engineering.