海绵动物骨针研究简介

An Brief Introduction on Sponge Spicule Study

海绵动物骨针是海绵动物骨骼的主要组成,是由生物矿化产生的;在地学研究中它是一种可用作地层对比的古生物化石。近年科学家发现了海绵骨针的光纤特性,特别是指出了这些特性可能引导人类开发新的光纤制造方法,从而引发了对其微结构、特性、生长机制与调控的生物学、生矿物学和仿生学的研究热潮。文章简介了海绵动物骨针的早期研究、光纤特性的发现及国内外研究概况。

Sponge spicules, which set up the skeleton of sponge organism and support the whole soft body, are the typical materials from biomineralization. In geosciences, just like the other paleo-biological fossils, sponge spicules are very useful for the study on biological evolution and stratigraphy comparison. In recent years, the similar performances with artificial fiber, which are produced at very high temperatures in high vacuums using caustic chemicals, were found in sponge spicules, which grow under ambient temperature and pressure. It means that people can produce optical fibers and electronic materials at a low temperature using a biotechnological, catalytic route and will bring a complete renovation for the production of these materials. So a research upsurge for sponge spicules on micro-structure, characteristics, growth mechanism and mediation are quickly arising. In this paper, the early study, the discovery of optical fiber performances and the research progress on sponge spicules are introduced.