Scientists create artificial mother of pearl

Essentially, we have created a new recipe for mother of pearl using nature's cookbook." - —Professor Ulli Steiner, of the Department of Physics' Cavendish Laboratory Mimicking the way mother of pearl is created in nature, scientists have for the first time synthesised the strong, iridescent coating found on the inside of some molluscs. Nacre, also called mother of pearl, is the iridescent coating that is found on the inside of some molluscs and on the outer coating of pearls. By recreating the biological steps that form nacre in molluscs, the scientists were able to manufacture a material which has a similar structure, mechanical behaviour, and optical appearance of that found in nature. In order to create the artificial nacre, the scientists followed three steps. First, they had to take preventative measure to ensure the calcium carbonate, which is the primary component of nacre, does not crystallise when precipitating from the solution.  This is done by using a mixture of ions and organic components in the solution that mimics how molluscs control this.