Imma Perfetto
Cosmos science journalist
Researchers have replicated the pattern of chain mail and created a new polymer which could be used to improve body armour.
The material is made of X-shaped monomers which interlock to form a sheet somewhat resembling chainmail. A monomer is a molecule that reacts with other monomer molecules to form a larger polymer chain.
This is the first time a 2-dimensional, mechanically interlocked polymer has been created.
The material is exceptionally flexible and strong, and could be used in applications that demand lightweight, flexible, and tough materials – such as body armour.
“We made a completely new polymer structure,” says William Dichtel of Northwestern University in the US, corresponding author of a study presenting the material in the journal Science.
“It’s similar to chainmail in that it cannot easily rip because each of the mechanical bonds has a bit of freedom to slide around,” says Dichtel.
“If you pull it, it can dissipate the applied force in multiple directions. And if you want to rip it apart, you would have to break it in many, many different places.
“We are continuing to explore its properties and will probably be studying it for years.”
The end of each X-shaped monomer is linked to the 2 adjacent X-shaped monomers to form a polymer chain. More monomers are threaded through the gaps in between.
The material contains the highest density of mechanical bonds ever achieved, with 100 trillion bonds every square centimetre.
They found that adding just 2.5% of the 2D polymer to polytherimide – an incredibly strong, acid- and temperature-resistant material in the same family as Kevlar – increased the other material’s strength and toughness.
Dichtel thinks the new 2D polymer might have a future as a specialty material for light-weight body armour and ballistic fabrics.
“We have a lot more analysis to do, but we can tell that it improves the strength of these composite materials,” Dichtel says.
“Almost every property we have measured has been exceptional in some way.”
