Electron Backscatter Diffraction Study of Brachiopod Shell Calcite - Microscale Phase and Texture Analysis of a Polycrystalline Biomaterial

Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) is an easy to use and highly automated microdiffraction method suitable for the determination of crystallographic phase and crystallite orientation. The high level of hierarchical structural organization in the shells of marine organisms was studied. Calcite brachiopod shell materials were found to belong to three types of microstructure: nano‐ to microcrystalline layers of acicular crystals, fiber composites with calcite single crystal fibers with [uv0] morphological axes, and material formed by columnar crystals with [001] morphological axes selected by competitive growth. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) as a highly automated microdiffraction method is used to study the structural organization in the shells of marine organisms. Three types of microstructure have been detected in brachiopod shell materials, i.e. nano to microcrystalline layers of acicular crystals, fibre composites with calcite single crystal fibres, and material formed by columnar crystals.