Researchers Create New Class of Materials Called 'Glassy Gels'
Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:
Researchers have created a new class of materials called "glassy gels" that are very hard and difficult to break despite containing more than 50% liquid. Coupled with the fact that glassy gels are simple to produce, the material holds promise for a variety of applications.
A paper describing this work, titled "Glassy Gels Toughened by Solvent," appears in the journal Nature.
Gels and glassy polymers are classes of materials that have historically been viewed as distinct from one another. Glassy polymers are hard, stiff and often brittle. They're used to make things like water bottles or airplane windows. Gels-such as contact lenses-contain liquid and are soft and stretchy.
"We've created a class of materials that we've termed glassy gels, which are as hard as glassy polymers, but-if you apply enough force-can stretch up to five times their original length, rather than breaking," says Michael Dickey, corresponding author of a paper on the work and the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at North Carolina State University. "What's more, once the material has been stretched, you can get it to return to its original shape by applying heat. In addition, the surface of the glassy gels is highly adhesive, which is unusual for hard materials."
"A key thing that distinguishes glassy gels is that they are more than 50% liquid, which makes them more efficient conductors of electricity than common plastics that have comparable physical characteristics," says Meixiang Wang, co-lead author of the paper and a postdoctoral researcher at NC State. "Considering the number of unique properties they possess, we're optimistic that these materials will be useful."
[...] "Maybe the most intriguing characteristic of the glassy gels is how adhesive they are," says Dickey. "Because while we understand what makes them hard and stretchable, we can only speculate about what makes them so sticky."
The researchers also think glassy gels hold promise for practical applications because they're easy to make.
More information: Michael Dickey, Glassy gels toughened by solvent, Nature (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07564-0.
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