Researchers have discovered a new class of polymer materials that could allow for cheaper and lighter material.
The researchers combined "high performance computing with synthetic polymer chemistry" to create a material that is stronger than bone, an IBM news release reported.
The material can also "self-heal" and be recycled back to its original material. It can be transformed into new polymer structures that boost its strength by 50 percent. The extremely lightweight material could be used in fields such as "transportation, aerospace, and microelectronics," the news release reported.
Polymers are chains of molecules connected through chemical bonds; they are essential in almost all technology dating back to the industrial revolution.
In fields such as transportation and aerospace the "structural components or composites" are exposed to environmental wear and tear, such as plane de-icing; the material has proven to crack easily under these conditions and is hard to recycle.
The researchers discovered two new classes of material that possess qualities such as "high stiffness, solvent resistance, the ability to heal themselves once a crack is introduced and to be used as a resin for filled composite materials to further bolster their strength," the news release reported.
The ability to selectively recycle these components could be useful in the semiconductor industry. Defective parts would be able to be reworked instead of discarded.
"Although there has been significant work in high-performance materials, today's engineered polymers still lack several fundamental attributes. New materials innovation is critical to addressing major global challenges, developing new products and emerging disruptive technologies," James Hedrick, Advanced Organic Materials Scientist, IBM Research, said in the news release. "We're now able to predict how molecules will respond to chemical reactions and build new polymer structures with significant guidance from computation that facilitates accelerated materials discovery. This is unique to IBM and allows us to address the complex needs of advanced materials for applications in transportation, microelectronic or advanced manufacturing."
