MIT develops ultra light materials that can withstand supersonic impacts

A recent study by a joint team composed of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology, and others has shown that their developed "nanostructured" materials, designed based on precise nanoscale structures, have great potential for manufacturing lightweight armor, protective coatings, explosion-proof covers, and as candidates for other impact resistant materials. This new type of carbon based material is both light and hard, and may become a substitute for Kevlar fibers and steel.

Researchers have created an ultra lightweight material using nanoscale carbon pillars, which endows the material with toughness and mechanical robustness. They first used two-photon lithography technology to manufacture a nanostructured material, which uses fast and high-power lasers to cure the microstructure in photosensitive resins. Researchers have constructed a repetitive pattern called a tetrahedron - a lattice structure composed of microscopic pillars. After forming the lattice structure, researchers washed off the remaining resin and placed it in a high-temperature vacuum furnace to convert the polymer into carbon, leaving behind an ultra light nanostructured carbon material. Scientists tested the elasticity of this material by emitting particles at supersonic speeds and found that this material, which is thinner than the width of a human hair, can prevent particles from penetrating it, even effectively preventing penetration when the particle speed exceeds twice the speed of sound. Researchers have calculated that compared to steel, Kevlar fibers, aluminum, and other equally weighted impact resistant materials, this new material is more effective in absorbing impacts. The study was published in Nature Materials.

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