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Using a novel polymerization process, MIT chemical engineers have created a new material that is stronger than steel and as light as plastic, and can be easily manufactured in large quantities.
The new material is a two-dimensional polymer that self-assembles into sheets, unlike all other polymers, which form one-dimensional, spaghetti-like chains. Until now, scientists had believed it was impossible to induce polymers to form 2D sheets.
Such a material could be used as a lightweight, durable coating for car parts or cell phones, or as a building material for bridges or other structures, says Michael Strano, the Carbon P. Dubbs Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT and the senior author of the new study.
[...] The researchers found that the new material's elastic modulus — a measure of how much force it takes to deform a material — is between four and six times greater than that of bulletproof glass. They also found that its yield strength, or how much force it takes to break the material, is twice that of steel, even though the material has only about one-sixth the density of steel.
Irreversible synthesis of an ultrastrong two-dimensional polymeric material (DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-04296-3) (DX)
From the paper:
Further processing yields highly oriented, free-standing films that have a 2D elastic modulus and yield strength of 12.7 ± 3.8 gigapascals and 488 ± 57 megapascals, respectively.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by pvanhoof on Monday February 07 2022, @09:57AM (5 children)
Ah, LEGO bricks for real buildings are coming?
An important question will be material price. If steel or wood is cheaper (to produce) for the same strength, this wont be used. Also ease of constructing: can you hammer in nails, screw in screws into the material?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 07 2022, @10:16AM
They are starting to 3D print buildings now. Just extrude layers or create joinery.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Mojibake Tengu on Monday February 07 2022, @10:34AM (1 child)
Ancient Chinese and Japanese furniture and building carpentry provide lot of fine examples of pure geometric joints without additional components.
The edge of 太玄 cannot be defined, for it is beyond every aspect of design
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday February 07 2022, @03:13PM
I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that this material can be low temperature welded, like other plastics, which would make it a very interesting skin for something like:
https://www.greenbuildingsolutions.org/blog/plastic-building-blocks-sustainable-future/ [greenbuildingsolutions.org]
The high strength polymer could be welded, water proof, and the recycled waste plastic could provide bulk, dimension for strength, and insulation.
Will this new material require protection from UV?
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 3, Insightful) by looorg on Monday February 07 2022, @02:19PM (1 child)
I see a bright future (or nightmare depending on which side of the issue you are on) for homemade 3d printed firearms, the issue have previously been with the barrel and the receiver.
That said indestructible lego-pieces are a true nightmare. I wonder how much it will hurt when you step on those. The once in normal plastic hurt like a mofo already.
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Monday February 07 2022, @02:37PM
I don't think this material would be thermoplastic, at least not without destroying it's properties.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 07 2022, @10:39AM (5 children)
...the technological advancement scavenged from that Roswell UFO are making it to the market.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday February 07 2022, @04:00PM (3 children)
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday February 07 2022, @05:29PM (2 children)
*Insert obligatory pic of weird hairdo guy saying "I'm not saying it was Aliens, but it was Aliens"*
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday February 07 2022, @05:43PM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 08 2022, @05:15AM
Sphynx cats are in fact alien cats that originated from Roswell you insensitive clod.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 07 2022, @05:24PM
It took 75 years to figure out the 2D polymer, maybe in 600 more years we will have the hyperdrive working.
(Score: 2) by pkrasimirov on Monday February 07 2022, @10:46AM (1 child)
I would call it plasteel but I guess that name is trademarked long ago.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasteel [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 1) by pen-helm on Tuesday February 08 2022, @01:42AM
On the Superfriends cartoon in the 70s they had FRERP: "Stronger than steel; lighter than plastic." It stood for "Fiber reinforced epoxy resin plastic."
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday February 07 2022, @01:37PM (12 children)
Already mentioned were coating for automotive parts. So, why not use this stuff to coat existing bridges, or to coat bridges made of conventional materials? Concrete being the most widely used bridge material, this coating should end porosity of concrete, and prevent corrosion of rebar in the concrete structure. Polymers aren't going to replace conventional materials overnight, maybe coating are the way forward.
IF, that is, these polymers are as good as the claims about them.
Also, I'll second pvanhoof's question: What will this stuff cost? Would it be cheaper just to put gold plate over the bridges?
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday February 07 2022, @03:16PM (11 children)
They already started coating the rebar itself decades ago (in better reinforced concrete construction techniques), this might make a stronger / thinner coating, but I doubt it will be cheaper any time soon.
Coating the outside of the concrete would be a tricky business - what's the UV exposure resistance of this stuff like? If the concrete is "mostly" coated but gets cracks that let water in, but not let it "breathe" like uncoated concrete - that will be different....
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday February 07 2022, @03:44PM (10 children)
Yeah, I've used vinyl coated rebar, personally. A study revealed that it's not the cat's meow, it sill corrodes, albeit, a little slower than naked rebar. Galvanized rebar lasts much longer, but it is also much more expensive. In both cases, bending, shaping, and dragging the rebar around during assembly causes damage to the coating, shortening the life expectancy. I suppose the ideal situation would be to bend and shape the rebar before coating, but that's very impractical, and you would still have some damage from handling and assembly.
And, answering part of my own implied question above: we would probably see those same problems if the rebar were coated with this new polymer. Maybe if the polymer could be applied after the rebar was assembled, those problems would be eliminated? Alternatively, the rebar were coated at the factory, then an additional fix-it layer could be applied on site, after the rebar was assembled into it's final form.
And, none of that addresses expense. Already, very few projects use galvanized rebar because of the expense.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday February 07 2022, @03:50PM (7 children)
There is some possibility for "field repair" of galvanized coatings with cold-spray zinc, I did this on my galvanized pipes and - it's not 100%, but it is 95% better than just letting the threads and wrench marks rust. Also, just having an abundance of zinc trapped in the concrete near the rebar is going to be a good thing in terms of which gets oxidized first.
For me, it's a question of project expected lifetime. If you expect this concrete to last 200 years, then of course you should do everything possible to prevent spalling, etc. If this is more of a 20 year thing that is likely to be demolished before ordinary rebar fails... yeah, ordinary rebar it is.
Then we get to the deeper motives of the construction industry, which often lean toward the "us and our kids are going to be out of work if this thing lasts forever" side.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday February 07 2022, @04:21PM (6 children)
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday February 07 2022, @05:24PM (3 children)
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday February 08 2022, @01:20AM (2 children)
Whoever named fiber bundles "Basalt" needs to be flogged with a cat-o-nine Thesauri, knocked over the head with a stone slab, and then have their permission to write where others can read suspended until they can show better judgement. Permission to name things revoked until their next incarnation.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday February 08 2022, @02:12AM (1 child)
Well, there seems to be something [smarter-building-systems.com] to that:
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday February 08 2022, @03:49AM
Then you call the material "Basalt fiber." One does not call Carbon Fiber "charcoal", nor does one call Glass Fiber "beach sand."
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday February 07 2022, @06:42PM
Stainless would be roughly double: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/price-galvanized-steel-vs-stainless-steel-15433.html [chron.com]
lots of variables, how thick is your galvanizing, what alloy is your stainless, etc. Stainless also isn't as desirable from a ductility standpoint as regular iron / galvanized - probably needs to be a bit thicker for equivalent applications, raising the price further.
If you can manipulate basalt into structural rods, you don't need concrete.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 1) by chair on Tuesday February 08 2022, @12:11AM
The cost of the two most common grades of stainless steel rebar (at least in North America) are ~10x that of regular un-coated steel, whereas galvanized is ~2x, and epoxy coated ~1.5x. [x]FRP's seem to be ~2.5x, although there are many types that can get more expensive. Sometimes cheaper, lower grades of stainless are used (e.g. MMFX), but I've seen them start to rust on site before installation.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 07 2022, @07:52PM (1 child)
This page https://www.homeadvisor.com/cost/outdoor-living/steel-reinforcement-bars-pricing/ [homeadvisor.com] shows:
Galvanized rebar +10% - 15% over untreated steel
The galvanization process provides an exterior coating of zinc to combat long term corrosion.
Compares some other coatings too. About half way down the boring page...
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday February 07 2022, @10:19PM
+1 informative - but I'm out of moderator points.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 07 2022, @02:32PM (12 children)
And in 100 million years, all that will be left of everything humanity has ever built and produced: roads, buildings, cities, industries, steel, plastics, etc, along with all its technological, scientific and cultural accomplishments, will be nothing more than a geological strata a few inches thick between two rock layers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 07 2022, @03:01PM (5 children)
I doubt it. satellites with stable orbits (are there any?) and left-over junk on the moon will last more than 100 million years.
the moon's orbit is certainly stable enough for the left-over junk.
I assume the footprints won't last for a full 100 million years though.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by legont on Monday February 07 2022, @04:39PM (4 children)
Suppose, dinosaurs developed a civilization similar to ours and killed each other in a nuclear war. Would we be able to see it now? I doubt it very much.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 07 2022, @05:18PM
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday February 08 2022, @02:51AM (2 children)
(Score: 2) by legont on Tuesday February 08 2022, @04:35AM (1 child)
How many dinosaurs lived on Earth and how many imprints we see. The probability of seeing artifacts is low. As per weird isotopes, we see them and attribute to nature.
But I guess perhaps it's not long enough. How about Martians who left some billions years ago.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday February 08 2022, @05:11AM
Unless, of course, the probability of seeing such artifacts is high, not low.
Except, of course, we didn't see that sort of weird isotope. As I noted, there's been extensive study of the trace elements in rock layers. It's not something we'd just attribute to generic nature and ignore.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 07 2022, @03:04PM (2 children)
The Voyager probes beg to differ. They'll still be out there. Dark and dead. But still there.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday February 07 2022, @05:33PM (1 child)
That's assuming said Voyagers don't hit a star or something. That would definitely be the end of those satellites.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 07 2022, @08:17PM
At least one Voyager probe is destined to fall into a black hole. That won't be the end of it, because it'll end up on a planet of machines. The race of machines will repair and upgrade the probe before the Voyager probe embarks on a very destructive journey to find its creator and join with it. We should hope this fate doesn't also give rise to a galactic-scale armada of cube-shaped ships that more or less have the same programming as the Voyager probe.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday February 07 2022, @03:18PM (1 child)
Oh, I think we'll get more than a few inches. The larger inland cities should produce several feet of strata, and might even entomb some spaces to be discovered like the pyramid's burial chambers.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 1) by Retian on Tuesday February 08 2022, @09:06PM
Yeah well that's what she said and boy was she disappointed! :(
(Score: 2) by tizan on Monday February 07 2022, @11:43PM
Except for the stone pyramids of the Incas and Egyptians !
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 07 2022, @03:42PM (3 children)
also doesn't rust, can't be recycled (efficienly) and will decay ... never?
make it transparent and we'll soon have walls made from 3 year old "obsolete" mobilephone casings made from this stuff :P
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday February 07 2022, @04:05PM (1 child)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 08 2022, @05:49AM
leave it to the 'murikans to find a way to destroy it.
'murikan entropy is a tacked-on extension of regular entropy and can be avoided with regular payments in one form or another.
example: buy some F-35 w/ upkeep contract
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 08 2022, @09:30AM
Well of course! The oceans are running out of all the PET plastics already so good thing we can mass produce more crap. Need to replace it, FASTER and CHEAPER. MOAR MOAR!
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Subsentient on Monday February 07 2022, @10:43PM
Probably another technology that either 1. Is outright fraud and/or over-optimism by the researchers, 2. Is actually too expensive to manufacture, or 3. Will be suppressed by other materials industries.
Make no mistake, the great stagnation is here to stay, and looking at the current political climate, we probably won't ever get much further before civilization regresses back to the 16th century.
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." -Jiddu Krishnamurti
(Score: 2) by Muad'Dave on Thursday February 10 2022, @02:21PM
Is this stuff UV-resistant and flexible, and does it possess enough tensile strength for a space elevator?