The easiest material

group of researchers from the University of California in Irvine, HRL Laboratories and the California Institute of Technology has developed the world's lightest material whose density is less than 0, 9 mg / cm3, which means that it is a hundred times better than polystyrene foam (light grade plastic foam material made based on polystyrene and its derivatives, it consists of about 98 percent air and only 2 per cent of polystyrene). The new material is superior in ease all the other materials are not heavy because of its unique cell structure mikroreshetchatoy. The researchers were able to create a material that consists of 99, 99 percent of the air, developing a 0, 01 per cent of the measured hardness on the nanometer, micro and millimeter scale. "The trick is to create a lattice composed of interconnected hollow tubes, wall thickness 1,000 times thinner than a human hair," said principal author Dr. Tobias Schedler experiment (Tobias Schaedler) Laboratory HRL. The special structure of the metal material gives unprecedented mechanical properties, including a full recovery from a compressed state, with 50 percent load and an unusually high level of absorption energii.

"In fact, nanoscale materials are many times stronger," explains aerospace engineer-mechanic Valdevit Lorenzo (Lorenzo Valdevit), principal investigator for the project at UC Irvine. "Combine this with the possibility of creating a structure mikroreshetchatogo type, and there in front of you a unique cellular material." Designed specifically for the Defense Research Projects Agency, this innovative material can be used for battery electrodes, as well as to absorb the energy of various kinds, including acoustic and electric. William Carter (William Carter), head of the research team that developed the new material in the laboratory HRL, compared the invention with such big famous architectural structures like the Eiffel Tower or the Golden Gate Bridge, which connects the city of San Francisco in the north of the San Francisco Peninsula and southern part of the County of Marin: "Modern buildings, landmarks presented in Paris and San Francesco as the Eiffel Tower and the Golden Gate Bridge, are incredibly light, thanks to its unique architecture. We are revolutionizing lightweight materials by transferring this concept to the nano and micro scale. " See also: Mystery of celestial metal balls. The world's highest water slide. The world's smallest aquarium with fish. The smallest foal in the world was born in Britain.

Source: globalscience.ru/article/read/19916/