Mechanical Adaptation of Brachiopod Shells Via Hydration-Induced Structural Changes

This dataset accompanies the paper "Mechanical Adaptation of Brachiopod Shells Via Hydration-Induced Structural Changes", where using ptychographic X-ray tomography, electron microscopy and spectroscopy, we describe the hierarchical structure and composition of the shell of the brachiopod Discinisca tenuis as a function of hydration. We show that absorption of water by these shells results in structural changes at the micron- nano- and molecular scales, resulting in the material switching from hard and stiff when dry to malleable when hydrated within minutes. The deposited dataset includes the reconstructed X-ray ptychography tomograms of shells that were dry, exposed to 70 % relative humidity and 100 % relative humidity and the original electron microscopy images (SEM, STEM) that are presented in the paper.

Nudelman, Fabio; Ihli, Johannes; Wakonig, Klaus; Holler, Mirko; Glen, Thomas; Schenk, Anna S.; Rosenfeldt, Sabine; Falini, Giuseppe; Pasquini, Luca; Delacou, Eugenia; Buckman, Jim; Kress, Thomas; Tsai, Esther H. R.; Reid, David G.; Duer, Melinda J.; Cusack, Maggie (2021). Mechanical Adaptation of Brachiopod Shells Via Hydration-Induced Structural Changes, 2014-2019 [dataset]. University of Edinburgh. School of Chemistry. https://doi.org/10.7488/ds/3056.