New Lightweight Material is Stronger Than Steel (mit.edu) 88
Using a novel polymerization process, MIT chemical engineers have created a new material that they say is stronger than steel and as light as plastic, and can be easily manufactured in large quantities. MIT News: 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. "We don't usually think of plastics as being something that you could use to support a building, but with this material, you can enable new things," he says. "It has very unusual properties and we're very excited about that."
The researchers have filed for two patents on the process they used to generate the material, which they describe in a paper appearing today in Nature. MIT postdoc Yuwen Zeng is the lead author of the study. {olymers, which include all plastics, consist of chains of building blocks called monomers. These chains grow by adding new molecules onto their ends. Once formed, polymers can be shaped into three-dimensional objects, such as water bottles, using injection molding. Polymer scientists have long hypothesized that if polymers could be induced to grow into a two-dimensional sheet, they should form extremely strong, lightweight materials. However, many decades of work in this field led to the conclusion that it was impossible to create such sheets. One reason for this was that if just one monomer rotates up or down, out of the plane of the growing sheet, the material will begin expanding in three dimensions and the sheet-like structure will be lost. However, in the new study, 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.
The researchers have filed for two patents on the process they used to generate the material, which they describe in a paper appearing today in Nature. MIT postdoc Yuwen Zeng is the lead author of the study. {olymers, which include all plastics, consist of chains of building blocks called monomers. These chains grow by adding new molecules onto their ends. Once formed, polymers can be shaped into three-dimensional objects, such as water bottles, using injection molding. Polymer scientists have long hypothesized that if polymers could be induced to grow into a two-dimensional sheet, they should form extremely strong, lightweight materials. However, many decades of work in this field led to the conclusion that it was impossible to create such sheets. One reason for this was that if just one monomer rotates up or down, out of the plane of the growing sheet, the material will begin expanding in three dimensions and the sheet-like structure will be lost. However, in the new study, 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.
Unexpected uses (Score:3)
Re:Unexpected uses (Score:5, Interesting)
"the Carbon P. Dubbs Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT"
Ok, I had to look this up and it's an interesting story. Mr. Carbon Petroleum Dubbs.
https://digging-history.com/20... [digging-history.com]
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At first I thought this was some sophisticated Wikipedia trolling attempt (put up a bogus site and then link to that site as source). But I can confirm the existence of some such person from at least three different sources, a NY Times obituary, a Wikisource public domain transcription of a court case, and the MIT portal of the group behind the invention.
Apparently Mr. Dubbs was involved in the fossil fuels industry and even patented some industrial process, the subject of the court case.
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The whole reason it is interesting is that it has a low elastic modulus, so while it is understandable that you'd be interested in this application, it is perhaps not suitable for the general population.
Talk to your doctor, Bob.
Frank Herbert, Dune (Score:2)
Melamine (Score:2)
Melamine is an inexpensive plastic [wikipedia.org] that a lot of plastic products are made of.
For instance, the food bowl we used for our gorgeous, brindle mutt - until we realized she was allergic to the stuff, and it was causing chronic lesions on her lips. So we switched to feeding her from a chrome steel bowl, and the sores cleared up, AIBFM ...
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In the past, melamine was added to animal feed to boost nitrogen uptake, but the practice is now banned.
In 2008, there was a big scandal when melamine was illegally added to baby formula in China, killing several babies.
All that unused oil (Score:2)
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Re: All that unused oil (Score:2)
And I'd like to add: besides, that ride you're enjoying? Might lead you to unthought of solutions for problems you thought were unsolvable.
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Indeed. Melamine requires far less fossil fuel than steel production.
If the polymer is used to produce more efficient lightweight vehicles, the total carbon footprint will be far less than steel or aluminum.
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> Just no more plastics please.
Just refuse any medical care that requires them. Easy enough.
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Plastics are a far better use for oil than burning it in an engine.
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It is still a CO2-heavy process of mining carbon from fossilized sources and releasing it into atmosphere.
Only real difference is that oil made into plastic degrades into atmospheric carbon slower than oil burnt as fuel. [youtube.com]
It's still a geosphere to atmosphere carbon transfer process.
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Not mining fossil fuels also allows them to be eventually released into the air as CO2. It's still a geosphere to atmosphere carbon transfer process.
How fast it happens is a key variable.
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A lot of the time the sequestered carbon gets subducted into the mantle, which generally balances the carbon released by volcanoes leading to a mostly stable biosphere.
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Misleadingly phrased. Most (commercially relevant) hydrocarbon deposits are found in relatively recent rocks, sourced from relatively recent source rocks. The average age for reservoirs in my career was about 50-55 million years. The mean residence time of oceanic seafloor before getting subducted is closer to 100 million years. And most of the sediments deposited on continental crust (including continental slope) doesn't get involved i
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True, I simplified a lot, didn't mention weathering which moves carbon into the ocean as rock before being subducted, though I did mention volcanoes. Could have mentioned the example of Venus as well, volcanoes without subduction shows how much carbon can come from the interiour over some billions of years.
Without human interaction, those hydrocarbons would be released into the atmosphere at a rate similar to getting sequestered by weathering and plant growth, roughly 50/50 IIRC. There's also the feedback o
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I'm talking about purely from a societal benefit point of view.
There are alternatives to oil for transportation. But plastic is such a diverse and insanely useful product that there are many instances when there just isn't really an alternative available.
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A durable plastic will trap carbon just as effectively as plants or other methods.
Plastics are dangerous because they break down into microscopic particles that interfere with a range of biological processes. Most existing plastics do, but this material is significantly stronger and may be more durable.
The real concern is whether this material breaks down easily in the same fashion as one-dimensional polymers. If not, that eliminates the known risks.
Re:All that unused oil (Score:5, Informative)
I'd be all for it if it were:
1) durable
2) as strong as an equivalent amount of concrete and steel for construction
3) emitted less CO2 than the production of concrete and steel
One of the biggest problems w/ construction is the fact that it emits a huge amount of CO2 from the production of quick lime (Calcium Oxide or CaO) from limestone and seashells, which are made predominantly of CaCO3. CaCO3 creates 1 CaO + 1 CO2 when heat is applied. Typically that heat is generated by Fossil Fuels, Renewable Energy, or Nuclear energy.
It takes about 1.8 tons of limestone to produce 1 ton on of quick lime. That CO2 is released into the atmosphere as well as however much created by coal and oil fired plants. Global production is 283 million tons, China alone accounts for 170 million tons of the stuff, the USA only 20 million.
How do you pronounce "{olymers" ? (Score:2)
signed,
the phantom nitpicker
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openbracketolymers?
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No, if you want to be exact you'd have to say curlybracketolymer. Open is implied. And England is a tiny country, so nobody cares about their words. American English is the "English" that the world speaks.
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India and Nigeria have between them more English speakers [wikipedia.org] than the US, and with stronger UK influences. Canada and the Philippines are more US-style, but they're outvoted by Australia, Germany, France, and Egypt. Plus of course the UK itself.
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Wrong.
The Chicago Manual of Style calls them "braces"
"Curly bracket" is in common use, and ma
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Wrong.
The Chicago Manual of Style calls them
So your first mistake, you thought people care about the Chicago Manual of Style.
Your second mistake, the really exceptionally moronic one, is that even though you were making reference to a style guide, you didn't bother to look up the word style to find out if it means "language authority," or something else. (Spoiler: something else)
Keep trying, Ivan, you'll learn English eventually.
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At last (Score:3)
Finally... we have been able to create the long-awaited alloy of nobendium and impervium.
Fantastic news!
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Ummm.... nah (Score:1)
Finally... we have been able to create the long-awaited...
Yes, well, tell me another one [slashdot.org].
For years Slashdot has told [slashdot.org] us about these cool [slashdot.org], novel materials that are "stronger" [slashdot.org], "lighter", "better" than something [slashdot.org]. Thanks, but I'll wait until it's not actually unobtanium first before I get excited.
Why is steel the weakest metal? (Score:2)
Spider silk? Stronger than steel.
This new plastic? Stronger than steel
Titanium? Stronger than steel!
Rearden metal? stronger than steel!
I am wondering, why steel is so weak!
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Yeah, my thoughts for sure. Lots of materials that are "stronger than steel" but they always leave out which exact characteristic is being measured such as tensile or shear strengths.
Big deal here is that these are sheets instead of strings, but still a bit of hyperbole.
Anyone who has had an older polymer object fall apart knows that the big problem is stability over time and in challenging environments. We know how to build steel and concrete structures that will easily survive decades at least. Can t
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What happens if I hit it with a hammer? Will it crack, chip, dent?
The beauty of steel isn't so much its strength (tensile, sheer - basically it's Young's Modulus) - but how tough the stuff is. It can be bent, beaten, twisted and still stands up to the test. It works well across a wide range of temperatures - from Siberia to the Sahara. Canada to the Congo.
And - it's really, really easy to recycle it - shred, toss it into an electric arc furnace, melt, and cast anew. Yesterday's auto is tomorrow's skysc
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Exactly.
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Steel is amazingly versatile, but its not really one metal. It is an alloy (originally with carbon but also heaps of other metals). The steel which is hardest and strongest is not the same steel which is malleable, ductile and tough.
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I am wondering, why steel is so weak!
Because you don't read the fine print, which said, "* by weight." Or "* tensile stength" with an implied lower compression strength.
Rubber is stronger than diamond, too. (* toughness strength)
Titanium has higher tensile and compressive strength by weight, and higher elastic strength by any measure. But it has much lower shear strength, etc.
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Let's see if Elon Musk builds a rocket out of it.
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I remember when Apple released the titanium MacBook and the metal was billed as "stronger than steel, lighter than aluminum." Of course titanium is actually weaker than steel and heaver than aluminum, but you can't sell an exotic material by comparing it unfavorably to standard materials. And if you try to describe the actual benefits, most people won't understand. Not that there is any reason a laptop should be made from titanium or steel or aluminum.
More importantly (Score:4, Interesting)
Recycling is only a concern for disposable goods (Score:2)
Can it be easily recycled? We don't need to create more stuff that can't be disposed of/broken down and reused.
The beauty of this is if it's stronger, it won't need to be broken down often. It's a polymer. You can always burn it if you really need to. This absolutely should not be used for disposable goods. However, a HUGE use of plastics is for durable goods. For example, computer parts, tool housing, your car's dashboard, a huge portion of goods in your home, from appliance housing to simply the light socket covers. It's very very exciting to have a stronger, lighter, cheaper material. Imagine how much carbo
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The material is described as an aramid, which is something akin to kevlar.
That is not a very easily recycled material, so this stuff too seems landfill bound eventually.
we're very excited about that (Score:3)
"we're very excited about that"
Makes me think of bald, large glasses wearing scientists with huge boners, smashing Berzelius glasses from desks when they turn around.
Now, seriously, I have grown to associate this expression with "we have no clue whether this would work, but we're trying to hide it under a thick layer of positivity".
"durable coating for car parts"? (Score:3)
If it is stronger and lighter than steel why would you use it to coat a steel car part?
Why not just create the part entirely out of it?
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Why do you need it to be magnetic? Most cars are made of aluminum, which is not magnetic. Some sports cars are carbon fiber, which is also not.
Speaking of carbon fiber, is this new material stronger than that?
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Meant to say "high end cars". Ordinary cars are steel of course.
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I always joked about cheap cars being made out of fiberplastic.
And now . . . .
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I would guess the cost? Imagine chemically it's expensive, but a very thin layer in the primer coat will more perfectly protect steel.
Or possibly some other gotcha like the strength is only perpendicular to the "plates" and otherwise it's very weak, or it's susceptible to brittle fracture or something. Or maybe people just don't want a car that's structurally made of plastic right now, but might come around to it later?
Saturn tried (Score:1)
Or maybe people just don't want a car that's structurally made of plastic right now, but might come around to it later?
See: Saturn [bobistheoilguy.com].
(Well, Ok, it was just body panels and not structure, but still...)
It seemed like a good idea, I thought the problem there (apart from ones mentioned in that link) was that paint didn't adhere to the surface well.
Maybe it would fare better with this new material (or with paints made to better adhere to it).
And if the new material is really stronger than steel, maybe better in
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I was thinking more in line with will start to degrade above a certain temperature.
Which makes sense since most plastics cant handle high heat for long (compared to steel they mentioning here).
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Because steel is really cheap. And we know how to manufacture things with it really, really well.
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Melt point, wear, deformation, plasticity? Just because something has a high tensile, shear or compression strength doesn't say much about it's other qualities.
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Road salt, sand, grocery carts, rust. Because this is, from the title, stronger than steel I would imagine it is stronger than paint. If you can use it to protect the steel better than paint then there should be less issues with rust. Rust leads to a deteriorating car that has to be replaced. Other comments refer to the environmental cost. I would guess that the environmental cost for coating cars with this would be a positive as it would reduce the number of cars that need to be produced. Probably the same
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Well, I don't live by the ocean, but I have never gotten rid of a vehicle because of rust, and I tend to drive them until the wheels fall off. I usually throw in the towel when the transmission fails, and it costs way more than the vehicle is worth to get it fixed.
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If it is stronger and lighter than steel why would you use it to coat a steel car part?
Why not just create the part entirely out of it?
https://simplicable.com/new/ma... [simplicable.com] ("17 Types of Material Strength")
It has a low elastic modulus, but probably also has a low elastic strength, and may not have good compressive or practical tensile strength. E.g., once it is difficult to deform it, but once you do it doesn't go back to its original shape, and once you start to deform it, it may deform quickly, so end up with fairly low tensile strength even though at lower forces it has really good tensile strength. That would be consistent with use as a c
Under the right conditions (Score:5, Insightful)
I like how "Under the right conditions" is the entire point of the paper and not included in TFS on a nerd site.
Kevlar? (Score:5, Insightful)
So, this seems to be in the same family as Kevlar:
http://polymerdatabase.com/pol... [polymerdatabase.com]
Which is a great material, but has limitations. Most importantly cost. I am not sure about other characteristics either (like thermals). so "replacing steel" might or might not work depending on application. (Steel is very good with heat. That is why it is used in pressure cookers, or Elon Musk's rockets. Most polymers, are not as durable when things get hot).
So, like "revolutionary battery tech", I'll believe when I see it. Though, there seems to be real potential here.
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Just note that silk is also in this class.
but can it be recycled? (Score:2)
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The Man in the White Suit (Score:5, Interesting)
That was a movie my dad got me into a long time ago, and watching it is a good celebration of this discovery, I think.
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I'm going to have a "Man in the White Suit" watch party this weekend.
The fictional plastic in that movie had what would now be considered a highly valuable property: spontaneous disintegration. In the story, the intended indestructible fibre turned out to be worthless, because it eventually fell apart. I reckon textiles businesses would pay top dollar for that property these days. The fast fashion people would love it. Built in obsolescence. Today the smartest guy/gal in town, tomorrow feed the veggie patch.
In related DC Comics news ... (Score:2)
Superman moniker changed from "Man of Steel" to "Man of Light-Weight, Self-Assembled, Sheet Polymer"
Aquarium (Score:3)
But can you build a whale tank with it? Wonder what this will look like?
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They grew it on a silicon substrate (Score:2)
They make the 2DPA-1, but all of the measurements of strength come from 2DPA-1 that was grown on a silicon substrate. What is unclear is if you would get really good strength results if you didn't grow 2DPA-1 on a substrate. So I'd quit throwing confetti until someone shows someone making a bulk material out of 2DPA-1 and then testing the bulk strength.
Stronger than steel (Score:2)
Space Elevator? (Score:2)
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I was honestly wondering about space applications for this material. If it's lightweight and stronger than steel, how many parts of a spacecraft could be made from it? How would it hold up in micro-gravity? How does it do with radiation? Would it have to reside inside a metal structure or could it be used as a structural material itself? If we could build a much lighter launch vehicle by replacing some of the metal with this material, how much fuel savings could it lead to? So many questions.
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How thick is this (Score:2)
Sheet?
Aeronautics and Naval Applications (Score:1)
Obligatory space elevator comment (Score:2)
What type of strength? (Score:2)
The article mentions only yield strength specifically, the amount of stress a material can take before it begins to deform. What about compressive strength or breakable strength? Strength comes in a variety of forms, so to say "stronger than steel" is a little misleading.
https://www.monarchmetal.com/b... [monarchmetal.com]
2D structure sounds like graphite (Score:2)
Is this 2D structure something like graphite? In many applications, sheet structures are useful as dry lubricants, rather than super-strong fibres. The weakly bonded sheets slide over each other. Two inorganic compounds that come to mind are molybdenum disulphide and boron nitride. There is a protective grease we use at work, which continues to provide lubrication, even when the oil base dries out, due to the presence of solid MoS2. Boron nitride is the stuff to use for joints and bearings that operate in h
Finally! (Score:2)
Finally we have plasteel! :)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik... [wikipedia.org]
Whatever happened to other 2-d polymers? (Score:2)
Ummm, tosh. Unless they're very specifically taking about polymers made from monomers that are (liquid at NTP ; have "mono-" in their name ; you can buy by the rail-tanker load). But if you're talking about a material made of smaller units repeated across a structure forming an indefinite 2-d network, I've got a half-inch thick section in my 1983 mineralogy reference book devoted to them.
And then there is graphite. Tha