Posted on 02/03/2022 6:30:32 PM PST by BenLurkin
The new material is a two-dimensional polymer that self-assembles into sheets, unlike all other polymers, which form one-dimensional, spaghetti-like chains.
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...
Strano and his colleagues came up with a new polymerization process that allows them to generate a two-dimensional sheet called a polyaramide. For the monomer building blocks, they use a compound called melamine, which contains a ring of carbon and nitrogen atoms. Under the right conditions, these monomers can grow in two dimensions, forming disks. These disks stack on top of each other, held together by hydrogen bonds between the layers, which make the structure very stable and strong.
Because the material self-assembles in solution, it can be made in large quantities by simply increasing the quantity of the starting materials. The researchers showed that they could coat surfaces with films of the material, which they call 2DPA-1.
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.
Another key feature of 2DPA-1 is that it is impermeable to gases. While other polymers are made from coiled chains with gaps that allow gases to seep through, the new material is made from monomers that lock together like LEGOs, and molecules cannot get between them.
(Excerpt) Read more at scitechdaily.com ...
Might be good for armored vehicles.
I want a truck made of this stuff. With a diesel engine. Cheap.
One of the big immediate uses I can see with this is a supplement to the ceramic armor that soldiers use. Ceramic armor is pretty heavy, but if you could half the thickness of the armor and coat them with this wonder material, that might reduce the weight for soldiers by 10lbs, which is a lot on a 30 mile march.
Reardon Metal? Maybe Ayn was smarter in many ways
So....a floating bridge to Hawaii. It IS possible!
Sounds a lot like what was supposed to have been found on Mac Brazel’s ranch in Roswell, NM in 1947.
Reardon Metal?
BTTT
Ah, ya beat mne to it! :-)
The future looks bright
On that train all graphite and glitter
Undersea by rail
Ninety minutes from New York to Paris
I’m waiting for them to create a competent rational democrat.
Yeah I know, I want the impossible.
They’ll be Spandex Jackets, one for everyone!
Transparent Aluminium. Somebody call Scotty!
Reverse engineered.
Thank you, Area 51!
Airplane skins, dental implants, bicycles.
Can this material be used in a microwave oven?(/unimportant)
Space elevator
Or airplane fuselage/ wings. But is it fire resistant ?
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