New Plastic Stronger than Steel
- Gabriel Getzel
- Apr 7, 2022
- 1 min read
Chemical engineers at M.I.T invented a new plastic that is stronger than steel, yet still as light as regular plastic. To add on to that, this new plastic is able to be produced in vast quantities. This is important because this material could very well be used for real life everyday use. This plastic is a polymer. A polymer can be a natural or synthetic substance, (in this case synthetic) that is formed in 2d sheets. Prior to the invention of this new plastic, scientists did not believe it was possible to form 2d sheets of polymer. This new material can have many uses, in phones, cars, and many other important things.
What is a polymer? What does a 2d sheet of polymer mean? Well, it is what allowed engineers at MIT to make the new strongest plastic, because it has twice as many sheets as regular plastic. The name of this plastic is 2DPA-1, and in the future it could be a very fundamental material, like instead of the metals that are currently used in iPhones, they will use this new plastic. It could even be used in buildings and factories.
Another great thing about this new material is that it is impenetrable to gasses. Other polymers allow gasses to go through them, while this doesn’t, because it is made from monomers that are very close together. One final advantage of this plastic is that it is recyclable.
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