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Super-Light Plastic As Strong as Steel

Posted by Zonk on from the mini-factory-with-micro-workers dept.

Roland Piquepaille writes "A new composite plastic built layer by layer has been created by engineers at the University of Michigan. This plastic is as strong as steel. It has been built the same way as mother-of-pearl, and shows similar strength. Interestingly, this 300-layer plastic has been built with 'strong' nanosheets of clay and a 'fragile' polymer called polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), commonly used in paints and glue, which acts as 'Velcro' to envelop the nanoparticles. This new plastic could soon be used to design light but strong armors for soldiers or police officers. The researchers also think this material could be used in biomedical sensors and unmanned aircraft."

4 of 226 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Link with pics by debilo · · Score: 3, Interesting

    When i saw the title i imagined something more like bulletproof glass, but, as you can see, it's pretty thin.
    Thanks for the link. I wonder if this could be used as a scratch-resistant coating for sensitive surfaces. I'm thinking of my iPod and my mobile phone. Or even the windshield, loose chippings can be so annoying.
  2. Interesting Roland. I posted this 2 days ago here by CFD339 · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Here's my official WTF? I posted this exact story w/ a link to Science Daily's article two days ago -- before it was on Extreme Tech and half the other interwebs out there. I've never whined about having a story declined, but seeing the exact same story in here two days later isn't leaving me with that happy, warm, well fed feeling.

    --
    The problem with quotes on the internet, is that nobody bothers to check their veracity. -- Abraham Lincoln
  3. Re:Link with pics by foniksonik · · Score: 3, Interesting

    How about using an Inkjet method? You could get a good compromise between speed and flexible composition... or even with the roll-to-roll method they could use something like an ink plate to deposit just where they want the liquid to bind.... lots of good engineering research to be done there as well.

    --
    A fool throws a stone into a well and a thousand sages can not remove it.
  4. Re:Light cars = safer and more fuel efficient, rig by geekinaseat · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Feel free to correct me on any of this as maybe it is a preconception about plastics but.... I'm pretty glad cars aren't made of this stuff as it seems it would be a lot less recyclable than using a metal, give it fifty years and we would have landfills full of the stuff.