"ANN ARBOR, Mich.?By mimicking a brick-and-mortar molecular structure found in seashells, University of Michigan researchers created a composite plastic that’s as strong as steel but lighter and transparent…
The researchers created this new composite plastic with a machine they developed that builds materials one nanoscale layer after another…
Mother of pearl, the iridescent lining of mussel and oyster shells, is built layer-by-layer like this. It’s one of the toughest natural mineral-based materials…
The glue-like polymer used in this experiment, which is polyvinyl alcohol, was as important as the layer-by-layer assembly process. The structure of the “nanoglue” and the clay nanosheets allowed the layers to form cooperative hydrogen bonds, which gives rise to what Kotov called “the Velcro effect.” Such bonds, if broken, can reform easily in a new place…
The Velcro effect is one reason the material is so strong. Another is the arrangement of the nanosheets. They’re stacked like bricks, in an alternating pattern."
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