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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 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