MIT researchers have succeeded in creating a polymer as light as plastic that is tougher than steel and can “easily” be produced in bulk quantities. Dubbed 2DPA-1, the polymer is one-sixth the density of steel but requires twice the strength to break. Therefore, scientists think that the new material could be used as a thin but very hard protective coating for phones or car parts in the future. It is also possible to use it for extreme shock absorbing barriers and even for the construction of bridges and buildings, as the polymer has a deformation resistance of up to six times that of bulletproof glass.
Another interesting feature of the new 2DPA-1 material is that it is impermeable to gases or liquids. Therefore, it can provide extra corrosion protection to car parts where it can be used in the future.
To develop such a polymer, the MIT team in chemistry was able to glue the molecules together in a two-dimensional sheet-like structure called polyaramid. This achievement stands out as an achievement that was thought impossible until now and lasted for decades. The material is formed by “disks” of molecular chains stacked on top of each other, held by very strong hydrogen bonds that do not allow even gases to pass through.
As MIT Chemical Engineering Professor Michael Strano, author of the study, stated: “Instead of making a spaghetti-like molecule, we can make a sheet-like molecular plane in which we allow the molecules to attach themselves together in two dimensions. This mechanism happens spontaneously in solution, and after synthesizing the material, we can create an extraordinarily strong molecular plane. We can easily spin-coat thin films.”
Mass production of the lightweight yet durable polymer basically consists of increasing the amount of ingredients used, the researchers say. The ability to produce 2DPA-1 material economically and at scale is just as important as its discovery, because although promising, there are many materials that have not left the laboratory due to the scaling problem not being solved. Research on new steel-hard polymers is supported by the Center for Advanced Nanofluid Transport, funded by the US Department of Energy’s Office of Science and the Army Research Laboratory.
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