Coming soon: Vehicles from lungfish teeth?

According to the scientists,by copying some of the structures in lungfish teeth it should be possible to make composites which could be used more widely in cars and planes.

“At present,carbon fibre composites are the best available,and although carbon fibre composites are very strong ‘along the grain’ they are very weak ‘across the grain’ and their uses are limited,” he said.

“If general-use composites can be developed it will be possible to make cars and aircraft that are lighter and more fuel efficient,” he said.

According to the scientists,limitations in properties of current materials is beginning to matter. Because of a need for ever increasing performance,materials are being pushed to the limit which sometimes results in catastrophic failure such as occurred recently with an A380 aircraft engine.

Professor Barry said the study of teeth allowed us to learn from nature. “Teeth in different animals have been adapted or ‘engineered’ for various purposes. As engineering materials,teeth are composite materials with properties which are much superior to any existing synthetic composite.

“We started with lungfish because they are an ancient animal and we thought their tooth structure would be much simpler than modern animals that have undergone many more evolutionary changes.

“We were surprised to find the lungfish has a complex tooth micro structure — not simple at all. Teeth are composed 95 per cent by weight of the mineral,hydroxyapatite,which on its own is very weak but when used by a living system is tough and durable,” he said.