Mechanical properties, microstructure and morphological properties of badger teeth

The structure, composition and mechanical properties of badger teeth were characterized. At the same time, the difference between badger teeth and human teeth were analyzed. The micrographs of samples showed that badger teeth contained two layers – that is, enamel and dentin. In contrast to hardness, it indicated that the enamel has a higher hardness than dentin, and both are higher than those of humans. Meanwhile, badger teeth have an obvious hardness difference in enamel and dentin. And the badger enamel has a significant anisotropy, the hardness and the elasticity modulus in the cross-section were higher than those in the axial section. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy tests show that both the enamel and dentin consisted of carbonate–hydroxylapatite and hydroxyapatite crystals. And X-ray powder diffraction tests show that both the crystal amounts and size of enamel tended to be higher than those of dentin. The water, organic matrix and biomineral of each species were determined by thermogravimetry. Dentin had higher contents of water, organic matrix and carbonate (CO₃) than enamel. In the natural world, the mechanical properties of badger teeth are related to their microstructures and compositions, which potentially provide an inspiration for machinery and bionic designs.