Biomineralization is the ability of living organisms to produce mineralized tissues under a biological and an environmental control. Skeletal materials found in living organisms offer a variety of complex and subtle architectures with various specific properties. Remarkable examples of natural composites are compact bones or crustacean carapaces which associate in close interaction a dense organic matrix and a mineral network. In biological tissues, hierarchical order, from nanometers to centimeters and more, associated to mineralization in confined conditions provide materials with high performances.

Members are working on different mineralized tissues as models to improve our knowledges on biomineralization. Our approach is based in the beneficit in using hydrated condensed and hierarchically ordered matrices.