Scientists create transparent, thin plastic strong like steel

Scientists have developed a transparent new plastic as strong as steel and as thin as a sheet of paper, according to a study published Thursday in Science magazine.

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This is pretty cool. Its done with nanotechnology. The practical applications of this are pretty much limitless.

From Article"It's as green as you can imagine," he said, adding that the material is also quite cheap to produce.

I always thought that plastic was petroleum based, so not technically "green" as far as I know. Also, wonder what the melting point is. A bullet proof vest made out of this stuff would be nice, until you catch on fire from an explosion and the plastic melts, giving you first degree burns.

-Warlo

From the 2nd paragraph of the article

Made out of clay and a non-toxic glue similar to that used in school classrooms, the composite plastic is biodegradable and requires very little energy to produce, lead researcher Nicholas Kotov said.

[. . .]

Kotov managed to do it by mimicking the brick-and-mortar molecular structure found in seashells.

Interesting. It sounds like the process is the real breakthrough, as opposed to the material. I wonder what else they could build with this process. A smart polymer that can emit U.V. light, when a voltage is applied, so it could be used in vertical farming, would be nice.

Mother Nature once again helps out with a design to mimic. This sounds pretty interesting to me. Great find, thanks for sharing.

I posted this in this exact sub-forum.

Plastic composite is as strong as steel!