Materials science just made a huge breakthrough.
MIT scientists have engineered a novel 2D polymer material that can self-assemble into sheets, despite weighing the same as plastic, and can even scale to massive levels of production, according to a recent study published in the journal Nature.
And, crucially, it's even stronger than steel. So the scientists filed two patents on the novel material.
The new material was forged via a new polymerization process, and it allowed the MIT chemical engineers to avoid the pitfalls of other polymers, which typically form into one-dimensional, noodle-like chains. This represents a breakthrough in 2D polymer material that could serve as a lightweight and robust coat for automotive parts, smartphones, and even the construction material for bridges and other urban buildings, said Michael Strano, MIT's Carbon P. Dubbs Professor of Chemical Engineering, who is senior author of the study, in a blog post on MIT's official website.
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