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Researchers Create Sponge-Like Configuration of Graphene Stronger and Lighter Than Steel

Accepted submission by takyon at 2017-01-08 16:17:20
Science

http://news.mit.edu/2017/3-d-graphene-strongest-lightest-materials-0106 [mit.edu]

A team of researchers at MIT has designed one of the strongest lightweight materials known, by compressing and fusing flakes of graphene, a two-dimensional form of carbon. The new material, a sponge-like configuration with a density of just 5 percent, can have a strength 10 times that of steel.

In its two-dimensional form, graphene is thought to be the strongest of all known materials. But researchers until now have had a hard time translating that two-dimensional strength into useful three-dimensional materials. The new findings show that the crucial aspect of the new 3-D forms has more to do with their unusual geometrical configuration than with the material itself, which suggests that similar strong, lightweight materials could be made from a variety of materials by creating similar geometric features.

The mechanics and design of a lightweight three-dimensional graphene assembly [sciencemag.org] (open, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1601536) (DX [doi.org])


Original Submission