Here comes the "superhero" of the plastics world.
Nature recently published a work that was considered "impossible" -
Scientists at MIT have developed a completely new material called 2DPA-1, which is 4-6 times stronger than bulletproof glass and twice as hard as steel, but only 1/6 of the density of steel.
The most surprising thing is that it is only as light as ordinary plastic.
Image courtesy of Fastcompany
That is to say, it is extremely strong and extremely thin.
What's more, it is also easy to mass-produce.
This means that this "super plastic" is close to everyone.
Revolutionary advances in materials science are disruptive changes for all walks of life. Nature, too, covers every aspect of our lives.
Let "Super Plastic" fly a little longer
When it's used on a phone —
As a lightweight and durable coating, it makes your phone more wear-resistant and drop-resistant.
Image courtesy of Andrew Moore-Crispin
When it becomes an everyday tool —
The plastic bags we usually use can be made into more zippered bags for repeated use, and it is also more durable than cloth bags and leather bags.
When loading some specific items, there is no need to worry about the plastic bag being casually broken.
Image courtesy of xxxlojel
When it's used in cars —
As a material for making cars, it can make cars lighter, then reduce energy consumption and last longer.
As a barrier coating, it can protect the metal or steel structure in the car, making the car live longer.
Because its density is so small that gases cannot penetrate, this barrier coating can also be turned into "paint" or industrial paint, applied to the needy items in the home, to prevent them from oxidation, rust, and decay.
It's like a natural barrier.
This will be the first and most direct application of it in business.
Image credit: IAMSPEEDRUNNER
When it's used in buildings —
This "super plastic" performs better than materials such as steel, and whether it is building bridges or buildings, it can reduce the use of materials compared to the past.
At the same time, making this material is simpler than making glass and steel, which can reduce more energy consumption and labor costs.
In other words, it is more environmentally friendly and sustainable.
Image credit: CDMG
When facing all walks of life ——
It can be turned into a shield, into a body armor, which can make it easier and safer for the police to travel; in space equipment, it can also reduce weight and ensure the quality of the launch...
Image from: Alien Cataclysm
As you can imagine, its powerful characteristics will also be used in more places where we have food, clothing, shelter and transportation.
How is "super plastic" made?
"Superplastic" 2DPA-1 is a two-dimensional polymer.
Prior to this, polymers typically formed only one-dimensional structures.
Our daily plastics, rubber, and glass are polymers, which are essentially a single molecular chain, as flat and connected as spaghetti, and when new molecules are constantly added to their ends, they will grow and expand like a cake in the oven, and then become a three-dimensional physical object.
Image courtesy of SHUTTERSTOCK
This allows them to be light, but it also exposes a weakness – there are gaps between molecules, and gases can pass through, so they are not hard enough.
That's why when you pack a bag of spicy strips in a plastic bag, you can also smell the tempting smell from the outside.
Scientists have been trying to study two-dimensional polymers for decades, but they have failed.
Because as long as a single body does not move according to the rules and begins to rotate back and forth, the flake structure will be destroyed, and finally it will expand into a "fluffy cake".
This time, Professor Michael S. Strano of MIT and his colleagues finally broke the limits.
They created this new material through a compound: melamine.
Melamine has the structure of carbon and nitrogen rings, the monomer can grow in two dimensions, form a disk, stacked on top of each other, the hydrogen bond between the layers is stablely connected, and the structure becomes very strong.
It's like all the kids on the playground sitting in rows, hand in hand, and then leaning together, locked together like Lego bricks, and can no longer be separated.
Thus, a new two-dimensional polymer was born.
This high-strength material is not only very light, but also very hard, harder than steel.
Because the monomer is firmly locked together, the gas and water molecules cannot penetrate, and the airtightness is very strong, which is why it can act as a natural barrier and is impermeable to the wind.
Surprisingly, these polymers assemble themselves.
Only the solution is needed, and the monomers can stack themselves into sheets in it, and people can directly add materials and easily synthesize more composite materials.
So, it can be manufactured on a large scale.
Now, researchers are already working on new applications for coatings and membranes, and when further research on structural adjustment, a new generation of polymers for nanofiltration and gas separation can also be produced.
The future applications of "super plastics" are unlimited.
What kind of "plastic of the future" are we waiting for?
Now, everyone's impression of plastics may not be very good.
Plastic straws stuck in turtle nostrils, plastic waste that has been unable to degrade for hundreds of years, plastic products that cannot be recycled and reused, and the rolling exhaust gas from burning plastic...
There are data that indicate:
If the life cycle of plastic is a country, it will become the world's fifth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases;
According to data released by the United Nations, the world consumes 500 billion plastic bags every year and sells 1 million plastic bottles every minute;
If we don't adjust the way we produce and use plastic, there will be 12 billion tons of plastic waste on the planet by 2050.
Image credit: SciTechDaily
Therefore, Coca-Cola, the largest plastic pollution company, began to increase plastic recycling efforts, down to various new consumer brands that advocate green environmental protection, began to be more sustainable from the supply chain to products, and even major supermarkets and convenience stores began to "limit plastic".
But the reason why plastic is so hard to get rid of is because it is really easy to use.
Therefore, it is necessary to solve the problem from the source.
There are already many companies replacing plastics with new materials.
Startup Ecovative uses mushrooms as packaging material, in which mycelium can grow into specific sizes and shapes, and is also conducive to degradation and circulation.
Allbirds, which has always emphasized environmental protection, made shoes from cashmere, made laces from recycled bottles, and replaced the packaging with 90% recycled cardboard.
At the half marathon held in London the year before, athletes ate a "water balloon capsule" called "Ooho" halfway through, because the packaging was not plastic, but made of seaweed and plant ingredients.
Salmon sperm strands have even been dissolved in water to form a soft, malleable "hydrogel" that the team calls "DNA plastic."
"Plastic alternatives" are a way to alleviate it, but there are many places where real plastics cannot be replaced.
So on another track, new plastics are also emerging.
What is more familiar to everyone may be the current biodegradable plastic.
"Biodegradable" plastics, in terms, are generally understood as throwing plastics in the ground and disappearing automatically before long.
But in reality, it still takes enough time to degrade, and this time can be hundreds of years.
This doesn't make much sense, after all, everything is biodegradable for a certain period of time.
Biodegradable plastics. Image credit: Dezeen
There is also "compostable plastic", which may be thought to disappear when thrown into the soil, and it can also make the soil just nutrients.
But in reality, it only works in special compost machines. And even if this plastic were readily available, we wouldn't be able to throw them all into the matching soil.
Technology is advancing rapidly.
Last year, also in the journal Nature, scientists have made plastics that degrade in days or weeks.
A San Francisco Bay Area startup has also created "compostable plastic" called Intropic Materials, which allows people to throw potted and fertilize it at home.
Image credit: Adam Lau/Berkeley Project
Once these plastics are popularized, we can throw them away without guilt.
The aforementioned "superplastics" can be applied to more new fields, even replacing steel and other materials.
It will take a little time and practice to make existing plastics recycled and dissolved, so that future plastics can come faster and be effective.
This plastic war has only just begun.
Note: The caption is from "Alien Catastrophe"
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