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BSdetect

(9,048 posts)
Sat Feb 5, 2022, 10:47 AM Feb 2022

This news could be rather significant. [View all]

https://scitechdaily.com/mit-engineers-create-the-impossible-new-material-that-is-stronger-than-steel-and-as-light-as-plastic/

Some info:

The new substance is the result of a feat thought to be impossible: polymerizing a material in two dimensions.

Using a novel polymerization process, MIT chemical engineers have created a new material that is stronger than steel and as light as plastic, and can be easily manufactured in large quantities.

The new material is a two-dimensional polymer that self-assembles into sheets, unlike all other polymers, which form one-dimensional, spaghetti-like chains. Until now, scientists had believed it was impossible to induce polymers to form 2D sheets.

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, says Michael Strano, the Carbon P. Dubbs Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT and the senior author of the new study.
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So it's like powder coating..... JohnnyRingo Feb 2022 #1
Wow! Sounds like another leap forward for sustainability. Hortensis Feb 2022 #2
I am imagining a cheap, completely maintenance- free, rot-proof home! 70sEraVet Feb 2022 #4
At very least significant parts of them. Maybe between this and 3D printing, Hortensis Feb 2022 #5
Aliens. milestogo Feb 2022 #3
Textiles might be a good use for these too ... surrealAmerican Feb 2022 #6
Yes. I imagine there'll be a great deal of work on textures Hortensis Feb 2022 #7
This does sound big. The Jungle 1 Feb 2022 #8
Pretty cool. But watch...the military will demand BILLIONS to re-armor tanks and such. PatrickforB Feb 2022 #9
Just imagine its use in military aircraft Wednesdays Feb 2022 #26
So... an even more indestructible substance AnrothElf Feb 2022 #10
Consider the downside? Pantagruel Feb 2022 #16
Like Faust... AnrothElf Feb 2022 #23
Good point empedocles Feb 2022 #25
Thanks for link burrowowl Feb 2022 #11
Does it come from fossil fuel? ancianita Feb 2022 #12
Good question. liberalla Feb 2022 #18
I just found out it does. And while it's a cool building material, building infrastructure with ancianita Feb 2022 #20
Sounds like the first step in affordable Flying Saucers for everyone. KS Toronado Feb 2022 #13
Carbon P. Dubbs !!! And the P stands for petroleum! Bobstandard Feb 2022 #14
Hmmmm ... if it can't be recycled, maybe it isn't so great FakeNoose Feb 2022 #15
Not a word about cost of production? Pantagruel Feb 2022 #17
that's the kicker isn't it? Takket Feb 2022 #19
why would there be? drray23 Feb 2022 #21
I wonder what its environmental is, not that it could be worse than what we have! And what Karadeniz Feb 2022 #22
Polymer equals plastic. RocRizzo55 Feb 2022 #24
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