Recently a new type of bionic bone was invented successfully at Zhejiang University. RuikangTang’s team, Department of Chemistry, used the method of bionics to create the organic - inorganic composite elastic crystal materials, of which the physical and chemical properties are quite approaching the natural bone. Preparation of Biomimetic bone-structure on the nanometer scale has almost come into realization. The related results were published on the leading journals of material science, Advanced Materials.

The new crystal has the features of nano-crystalline, but is quite different from the traditional crystal. It is made up of about 30 layers of protein and ordered HAP. “Comparing these materials to a house, we can regard the organic layer as the steel skeleton and HAP as the bricks.” RuikangTang explained. In the external shock, if the bionic bone could maintain the integrity of the crystal structure, it will bear a certain degree of bending. After the external force disappears, it will come back to the original type without any damage, just like a rubber. It is estimated that the flexibility of this new material based on HAP is much higher than traditional ones, reaching or even exceeding the normal biological bone’s flexibility.