Posted on 07/08/2024 5:56:49 AM PDT by Red Badger
Facile preparation of peptide glass at room temperature using standard lab equipment. Credit: Tel Aviv University
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Tel Aviv University researchers have created a unique glass that is both an effective adhesive and highly transparent. This spontaneously forming glass could significantly influence multiple high-tech industries. Researchers from Tel Aviv University (TAU) have created a new type of glass with unique and even contradictory properties, such as being a strong adhesive (sticky) and incredibly transparent at the same time. The glass, which forms spontaneously when comes in contact with water at room temperature, could bring about a revolution in an array of different and diverse industries such as optics and electro-optics, satellite communication, remote sensing and biomedicine.
The glass was discovered by a team of researchers from Israel and the world, led by PhD student Gal Finkelstein-Zuta and Prof. Ehud Gazit from the Shmunis School of Biomedicine and Cancer Research at the Faculty of Life Sciences and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering at TAU. The results of the research were recently published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature.
Solid peptide glass after preparation. Credit: Tel Aviv University
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Process and Properties of the New Glass
“In our laboratory, we study bio-convergence and specifically use the wonderful properties of biology to produce innovative materials,” explains Prof. Gazit. “Among other things, we study sequences of amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins. Amino acids and peptides have a natural tendency to connect to each other and form ordered structures with a defined periodic arrangement, but during the research, we discovered a unique peptide that behaves differently from anything we know: it didn’t form any ordered pattern but an amorphous, disordered one, that describes glass.”
At the molecular level, glass is a liquid-like substance that lacks order in its molecular structure, but its mechanical properties are solid-like. Glass is usually manufactured by rapidly cooling molten materials and “freezing” them in this state before they are allowed to crystallize, resulting in an amorphous state that allows unique optical, chemical and mechanical properties – alongside durability, versatility, and sustainability. The researchers from TAU discovered that the aromatic peptide, which consists of a three-tyrosine sequence (YYY), forms a molecular glass spontaneously, upon evaporation of an aqueous solution, under room-temperature conditions.
(Left to right): Gal Finkelstein-Zuta and Prof. Ehud Gazit. Credit: Tel Aviv University
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“The commercial glass we all know is created by the rapid cooling of molten materials, a process called vitrification” says Gal Finkelstein-Zuta. “The amorphous liquid-like organization should be fixed before it arranges in a more energy-efficient way as in crystals, and for that energy is required – it should be heated to high temperatures and cooled down immediately. On the other hand, the glass we discovered, which is made of biological building blocks, forms spontaneously at room temperature, without the need of energy such as high heat or pressure. Just dissolve a powder in water – just like making kool-aid, and the glass will form. For example, we made lenses from our new glass. Instead of undergoing a lengthy process of grinding and polishing, we simply dripped a drop onto a surface, where we control its curvature – and hence its focus – by adjusting the solution volume alone.”
The properties of the innovative glass from TAU are unique in the world – and even contradict each other: it is very hard, but it can repair itself at room temperature; It is a strong adhesive, and at the same time, it is transparent in a wide spectral range, ranging from the visible light to the mid-infrared range.
Potential Impact and Uses
“This is the first time anyone has succeeded in creating molecular glass under simple conditions,” says Prof. Gazit, “but not less important than that are the properties of the glass we created. It is a very special glass. On the one hand, it is very strong and on the other hand, very transparent – much more transparent than ordinary glass. The normal silicate glass we all know is transparent in the visible light range, the molecular glass we created is transparent deep into the infrared range. This has many uses in fields such as satellites, remote sensing, communications, and optics. It is also a strong adhesive, it can glue different glasses together, and at the same time, it can repair cracks that are formed in it. It is a set of properties that does not exist in any glass in the world, which has great potential in science and engineering, and we got all this from a single peptide – one little piece of protein.”
Reference:
“A self-healing multispectral transparent adhesive peptide glass” by Gal Finkelstein-Zuta, Zohar A. Arnon, Thangavel Vijayakanth, Or Messer, Orr Simon Lusky, Avital Wagner, Galit Zilberman, Ruth Aizen, Lior Michaeli, Sigal Rencus-Lazar, Sharon Gilead, Sudha Shankar, Mariela Jorgelina Pavan, Dor Aaron Goldstein, Shira Kutchinsky, Tal Ellenbogen, Benjamin A. Palmer, Amir Goldbourt, Maxim Sokol and Ehud Gazit, 12 June 2024, Nature.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07408-x
Good for the Tel Aviv University... Looks promising.
Now... Where are all those innovations from the Palestinian universities... The ones the UN likely bought and paid for with the billions they’ve given them, and yet somehow still don’t exist?
Well, for one they learned how to take water and sewer pipes and turn them into missiles, so there’s that................
That University should be very proud of this research team.
This glass is likely to have several industrial uses.
All this is going on while the country of Israel remains under attack. Somehow, life goes on.
They are explosive! Those "Palistinian" kids, they blow up so fast...
They are working on rocks to throw at the glass.
Oh-Oh....Invented by Gal Finkelstein.....this could be truble.! :)
forms a molecular glass spontaneously, upon evaporation
Don’t atomic bombs do the same
According to my memory of what George Gilder wrote, China is graduating four engineers to every one in the US. George sometimes looks to Taiwan and Israel for innovations.
Will it dissolve in water once it is formed?
Good question!....................
Abstract
Despite its disordered liquid-like structure, glass exhibits solid-like mechanical properties1. The formation of glassy material occurs by vitrification, preventing crystallization and promoting an amorphous structure2. Glass is fundamental in diverse fields of materials science, owing to its unique optical, chemical and mechanical properties as well as durability, versatility and environmental sustainability3. However, engineering a glassy material without compromising its properties is challenging4,5,6. Here we report the discovery of a supramolecular amorphous glass formed by the spontaneous self-organization of the short aromatic tripeptide YYY initiated by non-covalent cross-linking with structural water7,8. This system uniquely combines often contradictory sets of properties; it is highly rigid yet can undergo complete self-healing at room temperature. Moreover, the supramolecular glass is an extremely strong adhesive yet it is transparent in a wide spectral range from visible to mid-infrared. This exceptional set of characteristics is observed in a simple bioorganic peptide glass composed of natural amino acids, presenting a multi-functional material that could be highly advantageous for various applications in science and engineering.
Incredible. Thanks for posting Red.
Big deal, pali’s created a new suicide bomb.
Transparent aluminum?
General sci/tech rather than String Theory, as often happens. Thanks Red Badger.
Wow. I’m all ears- I wonder if there are possibilities in making lenses for eyeglasses, and telescopes and other optical devices.
Certainly! Instant prescriptions!....................
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