World's Lightest Material - Maybe Your Next WFP?

Your next Waterfed Pole could be made from this. As it stands, it is already very similar.

World’s Lightest Material Developed: Washington, Nov 19 (TruthDive): Scientists claim to have created the world’s lightest solid material so light that even a feathery dandelion can comfortably hold its weight without having its little fluffy seeds mashed. A team of researchers from UC Irvine, HRL Laboratories and the California Institute of Technology have developed the material with a density of 0.9 mg/cc.

The substance is made of tiny hollow metallic tubes – the walls of which are 1,000 times thinner than those of a human hair – arranged into a criss-crossing diagonal pattern with small open spaces between them. It has a unique “micro-lattice” cellular architecture. The secret to its lightness is a cellular architecture fabricated from hollow tubes that supports a material structure that is in reality 99.99 per cent air, according to the research team that built it.

That means the material’s density is less than one-thousandth that of water. And the stuff is pretty resilient as well—researchers said that when squashed to half its height, the material rebounds 98 per cent of the way back. “The trick is to fabricate a lattice of interconnected hollow tubes with a wall thickness 1,000 times thinner than a human hair,” lead author Tobias Shandler of HRL said.

Bill Carter, manager of the architected materials group at HRL, said that to understand the structure of the material, it can be compared with either the Eiffel Tower in Paris or the Golden Gate Bridge over San Francisco Bay. Like each of them, the material is light and weight-efficient, but on a Nano scale.

The material seen in the picture above is made out of 90 percent nickel. According to Carter, however, it can be made out of other metals as well — the nickel version was just the easiest to make, the report stated. The first time the stress test was carried out and repeated the material became less stiff and strong, but the team says that further compressions made very little difference. “Materials actually get stronger as the dimensions are reduced to the nanoscale,” said team member Lorenzo Valdevit.

According to the scientists, the material, extraordinarily strong and shock-absorbent, is like a feather. It floats down, and its terminal velocity depends on the density. When dropped from shoulder height, it takes more than 10 seconds to touch the ground.

United States Engineers Reveal World’s “Lightest Material” - A team of engineers from the U.S. claim to have produced the world’s lightest material. The material is composed of tiny hollow metallic tubes that are organized into a micro-lattice – a criss-cross pattern with small open spaces between the tubes. The scientists claim that the material is about 100 times lighter than Styrofoam and boasts “extraordinarily high energy absorption” properties. Some of the possible uses for such a material include a new generation of batteries and shock absorbers.

Producing the “Ultra Light” Material: The research was conducted at the University of California, Irvine, HRL Laboratories and the California Institute of Technology and will be published in the newest edition of Science. "The trick is to fabricate a lattice of interconnected hollow tubes with a wall thickness 1,000 times thinner than a human hair," noted lead author Dr. Tobias Schaedler. The produced material has a density of around 0.9 milligrams per cubic centimeter. Just to compare, the density of silica aerogels – the world’s lightest solid materials – is only as low as 1.0mg per cubic cm.

The metallic micro-lattices have the advantage since they are composed of 99.99% air and 0.01% solids. The engineers say that the material’s strength lies in the ordered nature of its lattice design. Other ultra light substances, including aerogels and metallic foams, have random cellular structures; meaning that they are more flexible, strong and absorb more energy than most of the raw materials that they are composed of. William Carter, manager of architected materials at HRL, drew a likeness between the new material and larger low-density structures. "Modern buildings, exemplified by the Eiffel Tower or the Golden Gate Bridge are incredibly light and weight-efficient by virtue of their architecture," he commented.

"We are revolutionizing lightweight materials by bringing this concept to the nano and micro scales." To analyze the power of the metallic micro-lattices the team compressed them until they had only half of their original width. After taking away the load, the substance recovered 98% of its original height and took on its original shape. The first time that the stress test was conducted and repeated the material loss some of its stiffness and strength, but the engineers noted that further compressions didn’t make much of a difference. "Materials actually get stronger as the dimensions are reduced to the nanoscale," said team member Lorenzo Valdevit."Combine this with the possibility of tailoring the architecture of the micro-lattice and you have a unique cellular material."

Windows Of The Future

Motion sensitive glass could boost home security: Besides letting in light and providing pleasant views, (hopefully), windows unfortunately also provide a convenient entrance for burglars. Security systems have long employed contacts that, when broken, activate an alarm, but what if the simple act of moving around outside a window were enough to raise the alert. That’s the concept behind a system developed by the Fraunhofer Institutes for Applied Polymer Research IAP in Potsdam-Golm and Computer Architecture and Software Technology FIRST in Berlin that sensitizes windows and doors to detect suspicious movements.
The motion sensor enables window panes and glass doors to detect movements thanks to a special coating. If anything changes in front of the pane, or someone sneaks up to it, an alarm signal is triggered. “The glass is coated with a fluorescent material,” explains IAP group manager Dr. Burkhard Elling. “The coating contains nanoparticles that convert light into fluorescent radiation,” so when the invisible light of a UV lamp “illuminates” the window panes it generates fluorescent radiation in the coating which is channeled to the edges of the window, where it is detected by sensors. Therefore if someone blocks the light of the lamp, less light reaches the coating and less fluorescent radiation is produced, which the sensors detect.
Simple applications would require only one sensor, but if several sensors are installed on all four sides of the window frame, conclusions can be drawn from the data as to how fast and in what direction an object is moving. Its size, too, can be estimated by the sensors so that moving objects the size of birds for instance do not trigger an alarm. Likewise, the sensors do not react to light from passing cars, as the system can interpret different light signals. The system can also be implemented on existing windows with the coating able to be sprayed on by airbrush or glued on as a film.
A demonstrator system already exists, and the researchers now plan to optimize the dyes and their concentration in the coating. Looks like my days as a peeping tom may be numbered. Oh well, it was good while it lasted.



While attempting to find a cure for Alzheimer’s disease researchers have discovered a new nanomaterial that can repel dust and water and could provide a self-cleaning coating for windows or solar panels. Unlike similar dust-busting materials that take inspiration from the surface of the lotus leaf, the new material is actually made up of molecules of peptides that “grow” to resemble small forests of grass. The coating also acts as a super-capacitor, thereby having implications for electric cars in that it could provide an energy boost to batteries.
Using a variety of peptides - short polymers formed from the linking of amino acids – the researchers from Tel Aviv University (TAU) found a novel way to control the atoms and molecules of peptides so that they "grow" to resemble small forests of grass. The short peptides, which are simple and inexpensive to produce, were used to create self-assembling nano-tubules in a vacuum under high temperatures.
In the range of one-billionth of a meter in size, these nano-tubules can withstand extreme heat and are resistant to water, making them an ideal candidate for the creation of a coating that could be used to cover the sealed outer windows of skyscrapers so that they never need be washed by daredevil window-washers again.
Such a coating could also improve the operation of solar panels, which can become up to 30% less efficient due to dust accumulating on their surface. This would also save money on maintenance and cleaning, which is especially a problem in dusty deserts, where many solar farms are installed.
As a capacitor with unusually high energy density, the researchers say the nano-tech material could also give electric batteries a boost. One of the limitations of the electric car is thrust, and the team thinks the research could lead to a solution to this difficult problem and provide the extra oomph required in starting an electric car, going up a hill, or passing other vehicles on the highway.
"Our technology may lead to a storage material with a high density," says TAU graduate student Lihi Adler-Abramovich. "This is important when you need to generate a lot of energy in a short period of time. It could also be incorporated into today's lithium batteries."
The TAU researchers have already been approached to develop the coating technology commercially, which could see self-cleaning windows and more efficient energy storage devices appearing in a few years, but they also plan to continue their work on short peptides for a treatment of Alzheimer’s disease – the original focus of the research.

A Window That Washes Itself? New Nano-Material May Revolutionize Solar Panels and Batteries, Too: A coating on windows or solar panels that repels grime and dirt? Expanded battery storage capacities for the next electric car? New Tel Aviv University research, just published in Nature Nanotechnology, details a breakthrough in assembling peptides at the nano-scale level that could make these futuristic visions come true in just a few years.
Operating in the range of 100 nanometers (roughly one-billionth of a meter) and even smaller, graduate student Lihi Adler-Abramovich and a team working under Prof. Ehud Gazit in TAU's Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology have found a novel way to control the atoms and molecules of peptides so that they "grow" to resemble small forests of grass. These "peptide forests" repel dust and water -- a perfect self-cleaning coating for windows or solar panels which, when dirty, become far less efficient. "This is beautiful and protean research," says Adler-Abramovich, a Ph.D. candidate. "It began as an attempt to find a new cure for Alzheimer's disease. To our surprise, it also had implications for electric cars, solar energy and construction." As cheap as the sweetener in your soda
A world leader in nanotechnology research, Prof. Gazit has been developing arrays of self-assembling peptides made from proteins for the past six years. His lab, in collaboration with a group led by Prof. Gil Rosenman of TAU's Faculty of Engineering, has been working on new applications for this basic science for the last two years.
Using a variety of peptides, which are as simple and inexpensive to produce as the artificial sweetener aspartame, the researchers create their "self-assembled nano-tubules" in a vacuum under high temperatures. These nano-tubules can withstand extreme heat and are resistant to water.
"We are not manufacturing the actual material but developing a basic-science technology that could lead to self-cleaning windows and more efficient energy storage devices in just a few years," says Adler-Abramovich. "As scientists, we focus on pure research. Thanks to Prof. Gazit's work on beta amyloid proteins, we were able to develop a technique that enables short peptides to 'self-assemble,' forming an entirely new kind of coating which is also a super-capacitor."
As a capacitor with unusually high energy density, the nano-tech material could give existing electric batteries a boost -- necessary to start an electric car, go up a hill, or pass other cars and trucks on the highway. One of the limitations of the electric car is thrust, and the team thinks their research could lead to a solution to this difficult problem.
"Our technology may lead to a storage material with a high density," says Adler-Abramovich. "This is important when you need to generate a lot of energy in a short period of time. It could also be incorporated into today's lithium batteries," she adds.

Window Cleaner a thing of the past?

Coated with the new material, the sealed outer windows of skyscrapers may never need to be washed again -- the TAU lab's material can repel rainwater, as well as the dust and dirt it carries. The efficiency of solar energy panels could be improved as well, as a rain shower would pull away any dust that might have accumulated on the panels. It means saving money on maintenance and cleaning, which is especially a problem in dusty deserts, where most solar farms are installed today.
The lab has already been approached to develop its coating technology commercially. And Prof. Gazit has a contract with drug mega-developer Merck to continue his work on short peptides for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease -- as he had originally foreseen.

Also see previous blog for more information here.

Protein NanoTubes - Grow Your Own Window Cleaner

Self-cleaning skyscraper and car windows and solar panels that repel water and dirt, as well as high-power rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles could be some of the major applications of a Tel Aviv University nanotechnology discovery announced on Sunday evening. Pictured: Self assembling protein nanotubes like these could put window washers out of work.

The development of arrays of self-assembling peptide (protein) nanotubes was the work of Prof. Ehud Gazit of the university's department of molecular microbiology and biotechnology, together with his team of Lihi Adler-Abramovich, Daniel Aronov, Peter Beker, Maya Yevnin, Shiri Stempler, Ludmilla Buzhansky and Gil Rosenman, some of the department of physical electronics. Their innovation appears in the prestigious journal, Nature Nanotechnology.

Gazit was abroad on Sunday, but Adler-Abramovich - who is completing her doctorate in his lab - told The Jerusalem Post that the team has been working on nanotubes for six years and this specific project for two. "We thought of applications when we started, but the results were so impressive during our research that we added more," she said. Nanotechnology is the study of the control of matter on an atomic and molecular scale and involves structures sized 100 nanometers - each one-billionth of a meter - or smaller. A very short and inexpensive peptide chain comprised of only two amino acids and easy to synthesize in mass production is the basis of the technology.

"The self-assembly is carried out under high temperatures and in a vacuum. The peptide is as simple as that of aspertame, the artificial sweetener, she said. The nanotubes have the amazing characteristic of assembling themselves to look like "forests" of artificial grass and are hydrophobic, which means that they repel water, as well as dust particles. Thus, sealed, exterior windows of skyscrapers - which are difficult to clean unless someone rapels up them - would not attract dust, and when it rained, any residual dirt would just drop off without leaving a trace. Solar energy panels made of glass, whose efficiency is greatly reduced by dust because the solar radiation has to filter through, could repel dust if made of ordinary glass with the nanotech coating, said Adler-Abramovich.

Solar-energy "farms" in the desert where there is no rain would be able to repel dust to increase efficiency. If they need to be perfectly clean, a small spray of water on the glass could remove the dirt completely without anyone cleaning them, she said. The new technology would apparently put window washers out of work.

She said that another application for the nanotubes would be super capacitators that arrange themselves in great density to produce a rechargeable electric battery storing large amounts of power. These would release electricity quickly, making them ideal for cars that rely on rapid acceleration, even when going uphill. The nanotubes function in high temperatures and are very resistant, said Gazit's doctoral student, and they could also be applied for a variety of medical and biotech uses. Ramot, TAU's research and development arm, is already making contact with commercial companies that could turn the nanotechnology discovery into products.

Meanwhile, TAU's research authority has this year passed the $100 million mark for the first time. Since 2000, the total amount of budget funding from inside the university and outside has doubled. This is despite the slowdown in research investment funds from abroad due to the economic situation. Nevertheless, funds from the European Community for TAU research increased from $1m. in 2000 to $10m. today, which constitutes 18 percent of the total, compared to 11% from the US.

In the protected environment of a quartz tube in a laboratory at Victoria University the creeping spidery arms of nanotubes self-assemble themselves into existence. Professor John Spencer and his PhD student Kirsten Edgar have initiated the growth of these fascinating nanoscopic structures. But what are nanotubes? You may ask and why are they growing in a Victoria University Laboratory? The answer is that these nanoscopic structures discovered only 13 years ago are all the rage on the science scene. In an age with increasingly vast amounts of information and increasingly small devices to process it, the properties of these uncommonly small, very strong, electrically conducting materials are irresistible. If it were possible to control the growth of these tubes so that their size, shape and position could be pre-determined they would open the doors to a whole nano-world of possibilities: nano-electronics, nanotweezers, nanolithography, nanotube reinforced composites, data storage, solar storage, noble radioactive gas storage; the list is endless. John and Kirsten, however are concerned only with the synthesis of nanotubes, understanding how they grow and trying to control the type and size of tube that grows. There are so many different kinds of nanotubes: single wall, double wall, long, short, twisted, straight, skinny, fat and many more and the electronic and structural properties depend on these classifications. It is very difficult to sort the nanotubes once they are made so to get a single type of nanotube, required for a particular application the best idea is to control their growth from the beginning. This is the aim of research at Victoria University. It is, however no small task. Read more...