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Dan Little / HRL Laboratories
A new type of nickel-phosphorus lattice is so light it can sit atop a ball of dandelion fluff without disturbing it.
Researchers have created a new kind of metal that rates as the world's lightest material — and just might show up in future batteries and shock absorbers.
The nickel-phosphorus "microlattice," which is described in this week's issue of the journal Science, is the stuff that gee-whiz is made of: It actually consists of 99.99 percent air. The other 0.01 percent is made up of interconnected hollow tubes with a wall thickness of 100 nanometers. That's 1,000 times thinner than a human hair.
To get technical about it, the density of the material is 0.9 milligrams per cubic centimeter. In comparison, the lightest sample of aerogel, the stuff that's been called "solid smoke," has a density of 1.1 mg/cc.
The microlattice is made through a process that's completely different from the "cooking" technique that gives rise to aerogel. The researchers start by setting up a matrix of polymer lattices, and then deposit thin films of nickel-phosphorus. When the polymer is etched away, tiny metal tubes are left behind in the shape of the lattice.
Aerogel is foamy stuff that makes a great insulator but chips off easily. In contrast, the highly ordered structure of the microlattice makes it strong and resilient.
"Modern buildings, exemplified by the Eiffel Tower or the Golden Gate Bridge, are incredibly light and weight-efficient by virtue of their architecture," William Carter, manager of the architected materials group at California-based HRL Laboratories, explained today in a news release. "We are revolutionizing lightweight materials by bringing this concept to the nano and micro scales."
Lorenzo Valdevit, a materials scientist at the University of California at Irvine, said materials actually get stronger when the scale is reduced to the nanometer level. "Combine this with the possibility of tailoring the architecture of the microlattice, and you have a unique cellular material," he said in a UC-Irvine news release.
The material is strong enough to bounce back after being compressed by 50 percent, yet light enough to sit on top of a fluffy dandelion without disturbing it, as shown in the photo above. The stuff's properties make it ideal for applications that involve soundproofing or shock absorption, and it could also lead to lighter battery electrodes. It's no wonder that the material was developed for the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. (And yes, the developers have applied for a patent on the microlattice structure and formation process.)
Update for 10:15 p.m. ET: Valdevit provided a little more perspective on the "lightest material" claim in a follow-up phone call. "You might argue that it's a 'structure' rather than a 'material,'" he acknowledged. But the key factor has to do with how strong and resilient the microlattice is for its weight. That's what will determine how widely it's used.
Science's Brandon Bryn narrates a video showing how an ultralight metallic microlattice recovers from compression. (Credit: HRL Laboratories / AAAS)
More material about materials science:
- Aerogel used in artificial muscles
- 'Frozen diamond smoke' is rich in possibilities
- Aerogel could be used in batteries and robo-surgery
- Lightweight metallic glass is as strong as steel
In addition to Carter and Valdevit, authors of "Ultralight Metallic Microlattices" include Tobias Schaedler, A.J. Jacobsen, A.E. Sorensen, J. Lian and J.R. Greer.
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I wonder, if you shrink-wrapped it in air-tight plastic and then sucked the air out of it (e.g. vacuum-packed) would it actually be lighter than air, able to float? If so, that's exciting, because it allows you to make lighter-than-air vehicles in arbitrary shapes.
Nice thought, but I'm pretty sure whatever you wrapped it in would be heavier than the volume of air you removed.
Naw, but I think it's possible to make the material 99 percent helium and trap it with an electronic gradient (it "sticks" so its faced with the incentive to expand but is overwhelmed by the electronic current "sucking" it into the material). I posted an idea below to explain it.
I don't think you can make a flying car out of this, but a negatively buoyant object is not out of the question (like a sphere. Etc). Although it's not impossible, you could use thin sheets full of helium and get the volume necessary for buoyancy but I'm sure I'm not thinking of something. ( many things to factor)
(dubais "cloud" concept for the Olympics for example could be made much smaller with this material)
Good one, Alan. Since air is considered 'as light as air' removing the air won't change the weight and adding any kind of container will increase the weight. Simple logic.
That's also a good example of the difference between weight and mass. Evacuating the spaces between the lattice would slightly reduce the overall mass, but weight would not change.
It is a solid!
I wonder if their process would work with liquids? Maybe we can approach an ideal liquid from the macro level.
I am confident that we will witness an "ideal liquid" (quark-gluon soup or even better gluon-gluon soup) at LHC but to come close to creating it at the macro level would be good.
Awesome! It would make a wonderful top-sheet for the bed!
Unless it is filled with a gas light enough to give the solid resistance against the pressure of earth's gravity as well as it's own density then I don't think it will float, regardless of the removal of it's gaseous contents. If it is compressible, the removal of gas may collapse it's form.
My goodness there are a lot of misconceptions to address here.
Looooood: filling the volume with helium instead of hard vacuum would reduce the air pressure against the surface. That makes it easier to construct, less mechanical stress on the microlattice frame. OTOH, hard vacuum is much lighter than helium, so it makes it easier to get to negative buoyancy.
Johnbarker: uh, no. Air is "as light as air" and so has neutral buoyancy. Helium is lighter than air, and so has negative buoyancy. Hard vacuum weighs nothing at all, and so has the most negative buoyancy possible. A hard vacuum airship has always been possible, you just need a rigid frame that is strong enough to stand the air pressure and light enough to float. Steel kinda doesn't cut it :)
Ad'M: it is not exactly a solid, it is a lattice. Therefore there is a lot of empty space in there.
Rendi: I don't understand what the pressure of earth's gravity has to do with it. However, you are quite correct that the mechanical strength of the microlattice is critical to my hard vacuum airship proposal.
Hey doc turkey:
Solid is one of the three classical states of matter (the others being gas and liquid).
1. It is characterized by structural rigidity and resistance to changes of shape or volume.
2. Unlike a liquid, a solid object does not flow to take on the shape of its container, nor does it expand to fill the entire volume available to it like a gas does.
3. The atoms in a solid are tightly bound to each other, either in a regular geometric lattice (crystalline solids, which include metals and ordinary water ice) or irregularly (an amorphous solid such as common window glass).
This material is a solid, dude.
May I suggest you go and get an education on the subject if your are to judge others, dude.
It is way more than a solid, it is a structure. There is a bunch of complex shape in there. That the structure is composed of solids is obvious. Which still leaves me completely puzzed as to what you are talking about with respect to this process working with liquids ...
Why bother, you wouldn't understand it anyway.
Look up "ideal liquid" and see if you can figure it out.
This stuff is awesome! Hahaha
Yeah,but I bet you've never used the something which made in China.LOL
Lock-up the secret on how it is made...China wants to steal it....
It wouldn't be, even in a vacuum, just because it's still .01% more dense than air. What I'm curious about is actually how strong it is.
That's supposed to be up there ^
cool! valdevit was my lightweight structures prof. when I went to UCI XD
Now imagine I'd this could be combined with micro rubles that could then fill this material with helium....also, since ,micro rubles are known to create gradient differentials, the ionization mechanism could be made to suck air from the bottom to top using some sort of electronic mechanism (perhaps a plastic, lab on a chip, sort of thing)---that would allow to make objects eletronically boyant! Think of the possibilities!!
Oh btw, some new breakthroughs recently:
Cheap quantum computers:
Forbes(dot)com/sites/alexknapp/2011/11/04/cheap-quantum-computing-at-room-temperatures/
Actual hologram:
reghardware(dot)com/2011/11/16/3d_holographic_displays_become_reality/
E cat shows some promise:(cold fusion)
forbes(dot)com/sites/markgibbs/2011/10/30/believing-in-cold-fusion-and-the-e-cat/
(dot)= .
Or, just put in quantum computer in google news, 2nd link, holographic tv 1st link, or e cat, 7th link from the top.
why always filled with helium, hydrogen is lighter.
Helium is easier to work with, hydrogen is flammable.
Bambi-,
We learned the dangers of Hydrogen with the Hindenburg.
The hollow tubes, in other words, would be configured in such a way that the material would be composed of 99 percent helium (instead of air), due to the intrinsic electronic nature of tubes at this scale, they could then be used to create a gradient (a differential) where the helium is contained whithin the material while air is sucked from the bottom to the top (simply being at the discretion of electronic flow) . You could then make a material that would be more buoyant than air; this could be used for levitation of various sorts of objects (don't know about a "flying car", that's a bit more complicated, but if you look at the "cloud" being engineered in Dubai for the Olympics it functions according the same principle I have in mind)
Btw. If it's developed by DARPA, the least the fvckers can do is make it a patent that any American Bussiness can utilize...now anyone that thinks of a BETTER USE for such material had to consult with the patent office. I think we are pretty much ahead of the world right now militarily, we don't need to patent every f material because china or Russia might then take it and there will be an arms race, oh noes!
So so very stupid. They could make profit so many other ways than this.
You know, it does t have to be99 percent helium, that's techniccslly possible, but impractical...just have lattices that make it 7 percent helium and you got a buoyant material.
I believe that SEAgel (Safe Emulsion Agar gel) is actually the current record holder as the world's lightest material. So light infact that it floats on air. The U.S. Defense Department began work on the new material in 1983 as part of the "StarWars" program. SEAgel insulates against temperature, noise, and electric current. SEAgel also consists of 100% biodegradable materials, and yes, it is edible.
I can think of a dozen applications off the top of my head.
1. Lightweight radiation and micro meteor shielding for space ships.
2. Lightweight and cheaper power transmission cables. Since the latice has a lot of surface area it would also have a low RF impedance.
If the lattice is arranged in specific ways, the rigidity could be controlled and things like wing structures could be built to be much lighter but just as strong as conventional wing assemblies.
If other metal alloys can be used for the deposition, the sky's the limit with RF semiconductor applications.
An ionic 'lighter than air craft' could be possible by using ionic wind. If the structure is large and light enough, significant payloads would be possible.
In space, the ionic action could be used to propel deep space aircraft.
If platinum can be used, this would make great stent material.
Yea, an ionic propulsion system is possible if you also make the material conductive. Then you can manipulate gasses with gradients and create a differential on the outside, not only making the craft weigh very little but actually provide thrust without an engine but the electronic control of the ionic flow, it could then be amplified with an engine and an aerodynamic design that allowed a influx at the front that then blankets the craft out till the end where it's expelled, simply by making the air ionized as it comes in contact with the material (they have thought about this for scramjets)
If you wanted a stationary craft that could
Levitate (like in sci fi)would make the material conductive and put a magnetic 3d gyroscope that would give "spin" to the material, allowing it to exhibiting plasmonic properties. This would stabilize the craft and give it a natural "rhythm" that could be used to ionize the air with gradients from the conductive material.. Energizing the material.
It's not bs, if you have a conductive material that is light weight electronically malleable, you can give the material more "spin" and hence making the ionic differentials more "aggressive and intense" especially with plasmonics. This is not at all impossible in fact with nanotechnology and current developments is quite mundane. Why not yet? Scientists have yet to developed a material with such an affinity-thy has expected it with superconductors at room temperature..but you can certainly make the resistance of electronic flow with plasmonics and thin sheets by manipulating spin.
It's just a matter of. Time before thy have a proof of concept and then all of you will be mouth watering for the jetsons, but I think that will take a bit longer (economies of scale, etc, just because something is shown. In the lab doesn't mean it will appear immediately, you have to replace an entire infrastructure before you do that and ironically that's where much of these things run into a brick wall--regulation, what happens when people crash in the sky, lawsuits, politics, etc...it becomes a mess like anything else and it doesn't get traction because there is already an infrastructure and people show very little interest because they don't know about it...eventually I think its pretty much certain)
By making the differentials "more intense" you get more buoyancy and/or thrust for the same energy (because you are using matter itself as your inertial "spring" if you will) depending on what you are doing.
anybody think this could be better then kevlar? lattices and other crystalline structures are very strong and considering how lightweight it is you could make it thicker and it still wouldnt weigh that much, creating lighter and easier to move around in body armor
I think that's exactly why they invested in this research.
Lol, I'm smart because of comments like this^ ...
For Stating the obvious?
I like to waste time, that's what I do.
Looooood, your smart
I'm just this guy on the Internet dawg. I parrot the know-ledge
Another. One of us. One of us. One of us.
Now go my child. These arnt the droids yo looking fo fouuul.
The droids yo looking for I sold two months ago,, so it's not off the mark really.
The issue is not can we make something, the issue is can we afford it.
Our entire economic system is a complete failure worldwide, we need to do away with money and focus on the advancement of the human race.
This shows what we can do, but notice it took the Pentagon backing the project to get it done, the people with the ideas in this world are powerless because to create anything useful to mankind you have to have obscene amounts of money (which is just paper, it's an illusion of power) so basically only the rich people in the world get to choose what they will allow the intelligent people to create for mankind, that's a bad system, and they only let you create something they can use to become more rich and keep most of mankind their slaves.
This is a great invention, but it will not be used to better mankind, only to become part of the economy that enslaves us. It could be used in medicine to save your life, but you won't be able to afford the procedure. Instead it will be used to make your car seat more comfortable, but it will only be available in the Mercedes
And one more thing: it will most definitely be used by the Pentagon (who funded the program, which just means they stole the good idea) to kill people and spy on people and make weapons and instruments of war.
It is amazing stuff. Let’s hope it becomes an affordable material.
Apparently you didn't read my post above, your such a slave, it's so sad.
why kill people in the future(300+ yrs) when we've met other beings in this one of many universes??
and this stuff is amazing.
Alan, you forgot to mention one of the co-authors from UCI of the science paper, A. Torrents.
You should correct that.
Thanks
On the other hand...
It would make one hell of a condom, no? ;-)
Gee, I always thought that Hydrogen was the lightest material . . .
You need to understand that just because you replace the air in the lattice with a lighter element like hydrogen or helium, that doesn't make the structure itself lighter. That is like putting helium in a balloon and saying that the balloon is lighter. It's not the balloon that is lighter, it's the helium holding it up.
It's ridiculous that they omitted the two most important pieces of information from this article: what do these things taste like, and how many calories do they contain?