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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: 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