NEW MATERIALS AS LIGHT AS AEROGEL, BUT 10,000 STRONGER

Researchers at Lawrence Livermore, MIT Create Ultralight, Ultrastiff Materials

A team of researchers at MIT and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have come up with new ultra-lightweight materials that are as light as aerogel, but up to 10,000 times stronger. The new materials are classified as metamaterials, as in artificial materials with properties not found in nature.

The new materials were formed using projection micro-stereolithography, a type of 3D printing that occurs on a microscopic level. The team first constructed a polymer template coated with a metal film 200 to 500 nanometers thick, after which the polymer was melted away leaving behind the metal.

Using the same technique the team replaced the metal with ceramic to produce ceramic tubes approximately 50 nanometers thick, which created a material with similar properties to aerogel, but four orders of magnitude stiffer. Continuing along this mode of enquiry, the researchers experimented with a ceramic-polymer hybrid that was found to be extremely light and strong.

According to LLNL Engineer Xiaoyu “Rayne” Zheng, “These lightweight materials can withstand a load of at least 160,000 times their own weight.” With possible future applications in aircraft, car and space tech production, these amazing materials are generating quite a bit of interest among scientists and engineers alike.