Super polymer will give birth to a new type of plastic.
By Rakesh Agrawal, ‘Ridh
This is the age of plastic as plastic rules our lives from the cradle to the grave. But, despite its omnipresence in our lives, it remains fragile and brittle that could support just a few light and feather weighted objects.
But, now scientist have created a new type of ‘super polymer’ that can lift 1,000 times its own weight and be programmed to hold a temporary shape that would be heated to return to its original form.
This super polymer will give birth to a new type of plastic could transform the healthcare and clothing industries.
Scientists have developed this super polymer by altering the number and types of molecular linkers connecting individual strands.(See: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3443394/The-smart-plastic-lift-1-000-times-weight-Radical-new-material-change-medicine-fashion-forever.html#ixzz4FCljV3RP).
It was the result of a research and the teas were led by Chemical Engineering Professor Mitch Anthamatten at the University of Rochester.
They engineered these materials to store a large amount of elastic energy, enabling them to perform more mechanical work during their shape recovery and thus, they identified how to control crystallization that occurs when the material is cooled and stretched.
The super polymer chains are locally stretched and small segments set themselves in the same direction in small areas called crystallizes, which fix the material into a temporarily deformed shape. As the number of crystallizes grows, the polymer shape becomes stable, making it increasingly difficult for the material to revert back to its initial shape.
Anthamatten says the shape-memory polymer could have a variety of applications, including sutures, artificial skin, body heat assisted medical dispensers, and self-fitting apparel.
This smart plastic could demonstrate excellent performance for data storage and processing devices and will have great potential in applications such as automotive, healthcare electronics, industrial motor control and robotics, industrial power and energy management and in military and avionics systems.
And, soon you and I could also wear bendable & wearable electronic equipment like a Smartphone or PC on our wrists!