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Graphene Sheets Could be Used in Bulletproof Vests

posted by Fnord666 on Tuesday December 26 2017, @10:23AM   
from the any-volunteers-for-testing? dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

Banned for civilian use before it even exists:

https://sciencealert.com/graphene-paired-sheets-diamene-deformation-diamond-property

One day armed forces might protect themselves with layers of a material called diamene; dual layers of graphene that respond to a force by deforming into an impenetrable diamond plate.

[...] Researchers from the Advanced Science Research Centre at the City University of New York [have] layered pairs of graphene sheets to create a material that turns into a three-dimensional diamond-like structure when smashed with enough force.

Sudden changes to the conductivity of the sheets when dented could present some interesting new electronic properties.

But it's the possible application as lightweight protection where it really gets interesting.

"This is the thinnest film with the stiffness and hardness of diamond ever created," says lead researcher, physicist Elisa Riedo.

"Previously, when we tested graphite or a single atomic layer of graphene, we would apply pressure and feel a very soft film. But when the graphite film was exactly two-layers thick, all of a sudden we realised that the material under pressure was becoming extremely hard and as stiff, or stiffer, than bulk diamond."

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Original Submission

• Re:To use the idiot-in-chief banned words...SCIENC (Score: 2) by Arik on Wednesday December 27 2017, @04:49AM

  by Arik (4543) on Wednesday December 27 2017, @04:49AM (#614612) Journal

  People *do* get 'knocked down' or 'knocked over' but not with anything like the frequency and ferocity people that don't understand the third law as it applies to recoil imagine. A jolt which you can easily handle directed into your hand or shoulder when you expect it can still be a very punishing blow if it catches you unawares or in, say, the sternum. And the weight of the weapon itself moderates the recoil somewhat for the shooter, a benefit the receiver does not receive.
  
  So you know, if the guy is standing right on the edge of a roof looking down into the street, and you shoot him from behind with a pocket pistol, and he's wearing kevlar, I could see it knocking him off the roof. Or heck if he's just standing there flatfooted real close with his back to the street, and you shoot him from the front, and nail him right in the solar plexus with the shot, I bet that would work.
  
  Totally overused and exaggerated for Hollywood though, as you say.

  --
  If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?

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