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As It Happens

Sea snail teeth top Kevlar, titanium as world’s strongest material

When you think of a sea snail, you might think slow, but do you think strong? It turns out sea snails contain the strongest material in the world -- in their teeth.
CBC Radio ·
An image of limpet teeth captured using a scanning electron microscope. (Photo courtesy of University of Portsmouth)

British researchers have discovered the world’s strongest biological material ever tested: sea snail teeth.

Yep, you read that right. The super-strong structure of limpet teeth -- a shelled sea mollusc about 5 cm in length -- is so formidable that it could one day be mimicked and used in next-generation airplanes, racing cars and electronics.

“They’re stronger than any man-made material, such as Kevlar fibres that are used in bullet-proof vests,” Asa Barber, the study’s lead author, tells As It Happens host Carol Off.

A close-up of a limpet snail. (Photo courtesy of the University of Portsmouth)
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Barber says the teeth, which are about a millimetre in length, contain thin fibres of a mineral known as goethite.

The limpet requires these strong teeth to feed, as they rasp over rock surfaces to scrape algae off the surface and into their mouths.

Scanning electron micrograph of a limpet tooth. (Photo courtesy of University of Portsmouth)

Spider silk was previously considered to be the world’s strongest biological material -- limpet teeth are about 10 times as strong.

The full study was recently published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface.

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