‘Super material’ developed as alternative to plastic
Print Edition
A Chinese research team announced that it has developed a “super material” with superior properties to ceramics and metals, promising to be a greener alternative for engineering plastics in fields of automobiles and aerospace.
According to a new report published in the international journal Science Advances, the density of the new material is only one-sixth of that of steel. With outstanding strength and toughness, it is capable of withstanding temperatures from minus 120 degrees Celsius to 150 degrees Celsius.
The research team was led by Yu Shuhong, a professor at the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, capital of eastern Anhui Province.
Yu said the new material was created on cellulose nanofiber (CNF), one of the most abundant all-green resources that can be derived from plants or produced by bacteria.
Less than one ten-thousandth of a human hair in diameter, the CNF at the microscale is stronger than steel. However, macroscale materials composed of the CNFs become much weaker. Therefore, constructing high-performance CNF materials remains a challenge.
The researchers found that the new material’s superior properties come from a 3D nanofiber network produced from glucose by biosynthesis methods. It shows a multilayer structure at the micron level.
“(The structure is) similar to a layer stack of spider webs,” team member Guan Qingfang said, adding that when subjected to an impact of 100 kilometer per hour, the structure can instantly absorb and dissipate the huge amounts of energy, without deformation or cracks, which is superior to ceramics, plastics and aluminum alloy.
According to the research, the material could be used for automobiles, aircraft and precision instruments, particularly for aerospace applications, such as optical lens bracket for the lunar rover which requires high strength and stability under extreme temperatures. Cellulose also made the material cheaper, greener and possible to replace engineering plastics, the researchers said.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
