Engineers at MIT in the US have developed a new material stronger than steel and as light as plastic, which can easily be manufactured in large quantities. The unprecedented substance is the result of an innovative two-dimensional polymerization process.
This new material is a two-dimensional polymer that self-assembles into sheets, unlike all other plastics that form one-dimensional chains, similar to spaghetti strands. Until now, scientists believed it was impossible to make conventional polymers form 2D sheets.
“We don’t usually think of plastic as something that could be used to support a multi-story building, but with this material, this would theoretically be possible, as it has very unusual properties that make it extremely strong,” explains the chemical engineering professor. Michael Strano.
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2D material
Polymers have chains of building blocks called monomers, which grow by adding new molecules at their ends. Once formed, polymers can be molded into three-dimensional objects, such as water bottles, using injection molding.
Professor Strano’s team has developed a new polymerization process that makes it possible to generate a two-dimensional sheet called polyaramid. To create the building blocks of the monomers, they used a compound called melamine, which contains a ring of carbon and nitrogen atoms.
Under certain conditions, these monomers can grow in two dimensions, forming uniform disks that stack on top of each other. These disks are held together by hydrogen bonds between the layers, which makes the structure very stable and strong.
“Instead of making a molecule similar to spaghetti, we can create a molecular plane similar to a sheet, where we make molecules connect in two dimensions. This mechanism happens spontaneously, and after we synthesize the material, we can coat extraordinarily strong thin films,” adds Strano.
light and strong
The researchers found that the force required to deform the material is four to six times greater than that observed in bulletproof glass. They also realized that the yield pointthe force used to break the materialis twice that of steel, even though it has only one-sixth the density of metal.
Another important feature is that this plastic is impermeable to gases. While other polymers are made of coiled chains with gaps that allow gaseous substances to pass through, the new material is composed of monomers that fit together, preventing molecules from remaining between them.
“This type of barrier coating can be used as a lightweight and durable coating for car parts or cell phones, or even as a strong, stainless material for building bridges, buildings and other larger structures,” concludes the professor.
