My animals can use its claws to crush hull of modern ships. It evolved on an earth like planet. It uses a chemosynthetic metabolism. My question is that what is the chemical composition of the claws that allows it to crush ship hulls ? What could it realistically be made of?
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$\begingroup$ Hydraulic presses crush all sorts of things, including those made of similar metals and materials. The important part is the mechanism that allows those to impart pressure/force on thing to be crushed, and the size (so that there's enough surface area in contact). The design here is at least as important as the composition, if not more so. $\endgroup$– John OSep 8, 2021 at 14:27
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Carbon nanotubes grown biologically.
It is actually happening on Earth, as well.
In this study we provide evidence that the cellulose microfibril arrangement occuring naturally within plant walls1 aids in the formation of CNTs when plant fiber is carbonized in a cyclic oxidation process
and they are positing that the biological process can be used to mass-produce carbon nanotubes for manufacturing.
The use of plant materials in the production of CNTs has the potential to significantly reduce production costs, and it also suggests unique applications for plant fiber incorporation into thermally produced products.
The binding free energy of ssDNA to carbon nanotubes rivals that of two nanotubes for each other. We also demonstrate that DNA-coated carbon nanotubes can be separated into fractions with different electronic structures by ion-exchange chromatography. This finding links one of the central molecules in biology to a technologically very important nanomaterial, and opens the door to carbon-nanotube-based applications in biotechnology.
Diamonds, an extremely hard material, are an example of carbon nanotube construction.
answered Sep 8, 2021 at 14:13