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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 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.