Laminates of zinc oxide and poly(amino acid) layers with enhanced mechanical performance

In order to improve the resistance of solution-derived zinc oxide thin films against mechanical stress, nanostructured composite systems of soft organic and brittle ZnO layers were prepared by a bio-inspired process. As the organic component, polyelectrolyte multilayers were prepared by dip-coating using polystyrene sulfonate and poly(amino acids). The organic–inorganic laminates have typical properties in common with nacre: they consist of nanocrystals in a matrix of biomolecules, they exhibit a texture and they proved to be harder than the monolithic mineral.