Posted on 10/13/2021 7:40:50 AM PDT by Red Badger
Shiny nacre of Abalone washed ashore.
Strongest and toughest glass known developed by McGill University scientists.
Scientists from McGill University develop stronger and tougher glass, inspired by the inner layer of mollusk shells. Instead of shattering upon impact, the new material has the resiliency of plastic and could be used to improve cell phone screens in the future, among other applications.
While techniques like tempering and laminating can help reinforce glass, they are costly and no longer work once the surface is damaged. “Until now there were trade-offs between high strength, toughness, and transparency. Our new material is not only three times stronger than the normal glass, but also more than five times more fracture-resistant,” says Allen Ehrlicher, an Associate Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at McGill University.
(A) Glass composite (without index-matching strategy on left and with index-matching on right), (B) Glass composite’s microstructure, (C) View of the nacreous layer in red abalone shell, and (D) Nacre’s microstructure. Credit: Allen Ehrlicher
Nature as master of design
Drawing inspiration from nature, the scientist created a new glass and acrylic composite material that mimics nacre or mother of pearl. “Nature is a master of design. Studying the structure of biological materials and understanding how they work offers inspiration, and sometimes blueprints, for new materials,” says Ehrlicher.
“Amazingly, nacre has the rigidity of a stiff material and durability of a soft material, giving it the best of both worlds,” he explains. “It’s made of stiff pieces of chalk-like matter that are layered with soft proteins that are highly elastic. This structure produces exceptional strength, making it 3000 times tougher than the materials that compose it.”
The scientists took the architecture of nacre and replicated it with layers of glass flakes and acrylic, yielding an exceptionally strong yet opaque material that can be produced easily and inexpensively. They then went a step further to make the composite optically transparent. “By tuning the refractive index of the acrylic, we made it seamlessly blend with the glass to make a truly transparent composite,” says lead author Ali Amini, a Postdoctoral Researcher at McGill. As next steps, they plan to improve it by incorporating smart technology allowing the glass to change its properties, such as color, mechanics, and conductivity.
(A) Glass composite’s microstructure and (B) Nacre’s microstructure. Credit: Allen Ehrlicher
Lost invention of flexible glass
Flexible glass is supposedly a lost invention from the time of the reign of the Roman Emperor Tiberius Caesar. According to popular historical accounts by Roman authors Gaius Plinius Secundus and Petronius, the inventor brought a drinking bowl made of the material before the Emperor. When the bowl was put to the test to break it, it only dented instead of shattering.
After the inventor swore he was the only person who knew how to produce the material, Tiberius had the man executed, fearing that the glass would devalue gold and silver because it might be more valuable.
“When I think about the story of Tiberius, I’m glad that our material innovation leads to publication rather than execution,” says Ehrlicher.
Reference: “Centrifugation and index-matching yields a strong and transparent bioinspired nacreous composite” by Ali Amini, Adele Khavari, Francois Barthelat, and Allen J. Ehrlicher, 10 September 2021, Science.
DOI: 10.1126/science.abf0277
“layers of glass flakes and acrylic”
So, it’s not glass; it just contains glass.
We can’t have it if it was invented by an evil white man.
“Nature is a master of design”.
Nature designs nothing. Nature obeys and is the reflection of the Designer’s will.
Yep.
Interesting. Hope its reproducible for Industrial scale.
The mRNA vaccines include human created micro life forms made up of Nacre’s microstructure! 🙀🙀
This is SARCASM input before our resident anti-vaxxers make use of the new material in their fantasy claims.
By their own admission and definition, Not glass and NOT unbreakable.
And comes standard on the IPhone 14.
Sounds like something the Biden Administration might do. Or he'd at least be banned by YouTube and FB.
Tesla Cybertruck Windows are literally transparent aluminum.
(The infamous shattering incident happened after numerous attempts to break it.)
Really, about the best and only funny part in the movie.
#7 Nature designs nothing. Nature obeys and is the reflection of the Designer’s will.
You mean Scotty? : )
White guy science. It must be shunned, banned and excoriated!
Will be interesting to see if the acrylic yellows with age.
I tend to agree. After Scotty says “Computer?”, and the computer doesn’t respond with something like “Working...”, he takes on a scolding tone and repeats “Computer?!”. It’s easy to make fun of Star Trek, and when it makes fun of itself, even better.
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