Ann Arbor (MI) - Transparent aluminum has been the dream of many ever since it was first mentioned in a popular Sci-Fi movie a couple decades back.  But researchers at the University of Michigan may have done that one better.  It could almost be called "transparent steel".


Scientists began with a desire to take the extremely strong nanostructures, like nanotubes, nanorods and nanosheets found at micro levels, and then build something big and usable with it.  But each time they tried the strength was not carried forward into the bigger structures.  There was always something making the end product quite flimsy in comparison to the strength shown at the nanoscale.

However, scientists have now overcome that difficulty with a product based on what they're calling "the velcro effect."  This new polymer and glue sets up a series of hydrogen bonds between layers which, if broken, can be easily connected to other nearby locations automatically.  This makes it like velcro in that if it's separated, it can be rejoined and it will be as strong as it originally was.  As the materials flex and bend this bond reformation happens continuously.



To achieve this milestone, researchers began by looking at one of the strongest naturally created minerals in existence, that being mother of pearl.  By examining the molecular structures and layers which comprise the seashell, scientists discovered what's significant in their unique multi-layer, brick-and-mortar construction.  They then took that knowledge and put together a new plastic material that's stronger and lighter than steel, and also transparent.

Using a form of polyvinyl alcohol for glue, a large diameter wheel affixed on a custom-built machine begins the assembly process.  The wheel contains a host of nanosheets, each with a different clay composite material that used in the construction.  The initial substrate is a small piece of glass, about the size of a stick of chewing gum, though extremely thin.  It begins the process by holding the initial glue dip.  The wheel is then programmed to turn and repeatedly dip the device in the glue and then add a special layer of a clay composite material at a specific orientation.



After each glue/clay layer the material is allowed to cure before continuing with the next.  It's repeated 300 times until finally the end result is a material about as thick as sheet of plastic wrap that is stronger than steel (of the same thickness), is notably lighter and transparent.  The team has also worked with depositing different materials on each layer, not always based on clay.  These have included carbon nanotubes, metals and various particle alloys, including some which were organic.

The assembly process works so well and generically like this because in each layer the process begins with a negatively charged material which, when dipped in the glue and "washed" with water, becomes positively charged.  This allows it to attract very strongly the next layer for bonding, which changes it back to negative.  The process is then repeated again and again resulting in layers which form extremely strong bonds, even at macro scales.



The researchers are presenting a paper today entitled "Ultrastrong and Stiff Layered Polymer Nanocomposites," to be published in the October 5th edition of Science magazine.  Several university departments collaborated in creating this new material, including experts in aerospace, chemistry, materials science, biomedial and engineering disciplines.  The University of Michigan has one of the largest research budgets of any public university, topping $130 million.  Research at the university is focused on three primary areas, cellular and molecular biology, nanotechnology and information technology.  Other significant scientific contributions from the university have been reported on recently, specifically in the areas of quantum computer research.

Scotty already did this!!!

Oct 05, 2007 09:28     

Another example of people taking Star Trek science and making it real science, this is too cool.
Lowlife187 report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Go Scotty

Oct 05, 2007 09:53     

I was thinking the same thing, I always wanted to see transparent aluminum as in Star trek 4- or something similar in which this is. Very cool
Will report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

transparisteel anyone?

Oct 05, 2007 10:13     

Like Star Wars.
David report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Yes he did, but...

Oct 05, 2007 10:38     

Scotty is dead so it doesn't matter. And Star Trek is terrible. Star Wars rules.
Torgo report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Expensive?

Oct 05, 2007 11:07     

I'm curious how expensive it will be. The process seems rather intensive, 300 layers to make plastic wrap thickness... I'm not so sure we'll be seeing our stormwindows made out of this if it's rather expensive. It will be great for things like deep sea exploration and obviously space exploration.
Kellen report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

RE: transparisteel anyone?

Oct 05, 2007 11:17     

When they said it was transparent and stronger than steel, almost like transparent steel, that was the FIRST thing that came to my mind! If this stuff is really as shatter resistant as they're describing, I wonder if it could be used to make large diameter/area windows for spacecraft?
al report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Star Trek Science?

Oct 05, 2007 11:23     

Transparent aluminum wasn't science in Star Trek, it was a plot device, not science at all. You can't name a product and call it science without the faintest idea how to achieve the product. A good example would be the 'flux capacitor'. It's not science. Even if we figure out how to make something that does what it did in the movie, it won't make the movie 'science'. In the movie, they used 'props' to make what the 'actors' referred to as 'transparent aluminum'. This in no way gives the 'actors', writers, editors, producers, or key grips any claim as to having invented 'transparent aluminum'.

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I was thinking...

Oct 05, 2007 11:44     

...more along the lines of Plasteel, right out of Alien(s). If i remember it right, it was described as a clear plastic as strong as steel. Also, Star Wars is well known to have a 'Plasteel' material...anyone who has played KoToR 1 or 2 would know that.
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Re; StarTrek Science?

Oct 05, 2007 11:51     

"Transparent aluminum wasn't science in Star Trek, it was a plot device, not science at all. You can't name a product and call it science without the faintest idea how to achieve the product. A good example would be the 'flux capacitor'. " Actually this plot device that you refer to came from science, like much of the plot devices from StarTrek TOS, that is why they often worked so well. So of course StarTrek did not invent Transparent aluminum or anything else, but they took ideas from contemporary scientists and made excellent use of them. Remember partical beam weapons( phasers..) and ion propulsion (Deep Space 1)?

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kewl

Oct 05, 2007 12:00     

next-gen aircraft. No more black metal - no more windows. Just an panoramic view from the transparent top (bottom would be opaque for the ladies)
ikkeman report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Nanoscale pictures!?!

Oct 05, 2007 12:09     

I know we're talking about nanoscale here, but do the pictures have to be also? Come on, you can't do any better with some larger more detailed pictures? Let me break out my electron microscope so I can see them.
GWolfman report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

It's just engineering now. The next ten years shoul...

Oct 05, 2007 12:31     

It's just engineering now. The next ten years should be fantastic as nanotechnology research allows us to make unbelievable materials. In twenty years this stuff will be half the price of steel. Just remember these boys already can produce millions of transistors on a chip the size of a finger nail. It's a fantastic world.
Pat report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Imagine cars & planes made with this...

Oct 05, 2007 12:42     

The potential in having structures resistant to microfractures is amazing, specially for aircrafts. In cars the main advantage would be to take all that dead weight, increasing efficiency. In a show I saw the other day some researchers were perfecting a manufacturing process to build up car frames (and parts) from carbon fiber. Their prototype is able to run 100mpg on a hybrid engine. Joss, while the guys were indeed wrong in their assertion, chill up! Usually those shows have scientific advisers and thats how they come up with the different technologies and explanations. It is still science fiction, which is your point, but it is still fun seeing your favorite scifi show tech slowly becoming reality.

Magius report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Re: Nanoscale pictures

Oct 05, 2007 12:59     

SUPERLOOOOL
Z report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Just in time....

Oct 05, 2007 13:01     

For the Wonder Woman movie :D Invisible Jet ;)
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plasticsteel condoms

Oct 05, 2007 14:05     

any1? strong, durable, light and dangerous
nonimus report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Re: Expensive? - Patent pending

Oct 05, 2007 14:26     

I read the comment above, and had a brainwave! I am going to depose a pattent on this invention, called croisteel. There is a simple, everyday substance that is also made up of hundreds (or more) layers, and which you can make right in your own kitchen - the humble croissant! All you do is create a flexible sheet of the substrate material, dip, fold and roll 10 times, and you have 1024 layers. Do it 20 times, and you have over a million layers... Easy, huh? Remember, you heard it here first! Chris Tann, 05-Oct-07, 12:25pm PST.

Chris Tann report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

DUNE!

Oct 05, 2007 15:03     

Plasteel is from Dune, way before any of those other movies. Imagine having a combat knife made of this stuff, strong, corrosion resistant, and stealthy.(not detectable by metal detectors.) Wow that's dangerous! Great for Navy SEALs though.
Rob report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

sweet!

Oct 06, 2007 16:56     

lol...this means that manufacturers could make transparents cars and aircraft
dmac report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

not Scotty...

Oct 07, 2007 00:04     

Wonderwoman had it first.... ooo booya!
VILLAIN_xx report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

TROJAN new brand!!!

Oct 07, 2007 10:15     

Think about it, condoms as strong as steel but plastic wrap thickness!!! No more worries about your gf pokeing holes, that or unless your superman. =)
James report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Think *see through* cars people

Oct 07, 2007 12:41     

Something like this could be used to create extremely light encasings and still be see through. I have always wanted a see through car with exception of the passenger area which could concealed by the same material that is in "privacy glass" only wedged between layers of this stuff. At the flick of a switch you could conceal or see through. I love motorcycles beacuse of the unobstructed view, I have always wished this for cars.

Aaron Seven report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Back to the future

Oct 07, 2007 19:38     

So where did Star track get this Idea, along with some others?
Bradley report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Go Blue!

Oct 08, 2007 00:12     

Yeah! This is pretty cool.
Ryan Munson report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Settle down! Corps will buy it up, then tie it up!

Oct 08, 2007 07:58     

The same thing happened with that artificial diamond technology from 15 years back. It was supposed to allow all kinds of things, such as ball bearings, to be coated with diamond. But the only thing I heard of being coated was a pair of very expensive sun glasses which would have been great if you were attacked by someone with a scouring pad! Maybe 'safety' glasses for the rich? Remember the electric car?

Robert M report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

now people in glass houses CAN throw stones!

Oct 08, 2007 12:37     

now people in glass houses CAN throw stones!
david report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

military use

Oct 08, 2007 13:13     

what if they used it in body armor? wearing platic wrap but its as strong as steal.. would be better than kevlar (well less movement restricting, I cant say I know how strong kevlar is vs steal). Or simply putting it on vehicles as well. Surly too expensive to be practical for either case for 10-30 years
Bo report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Sounds great but...

Oct 08, 2007 14:54     

Can you picture what it will take to secure an airport once they start making firearms out of this stuff? I'm thinking strip-searches minimum. Or maybe MRIs for everybody. That will be nice and cheap, not to mention fast. The only way to fly will be to own your own aircraft.
nls report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Time to commercial application?

Oct 08, 2007 23:34     

Is there any reasonable way to estimate how long it takes to go from publication of an article in Science to something that could actually be used in commercial applications, such as aircraft or ship windows? Are we talking a year, a few years, decades, or impossible to tell? [It varies by industry. Inventions like this could see commercial applications in 2-5 years. Supercomputing researchers have told me personally that the supercomputing components they develop will filter down into mainstream accessible devices and price ranges in 3-5 years. And technology like perpendicular storage for hard drives made it even faster. It all depends on how desirable it is. This particular invention, "transparent steel," is apparently very easy to make. The process described by the scientists involves little more than a fairly complex series of dipping activities and base chemicals. An industry would be able to complete research on the materials and put them into mass production within a couple years, I'd think. -Rick]

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Opaque

Oct 09, 2007 03:13     

Looks like the material is already becoming opaque just at the thickness in the pics. I'd have to see larger and more high res pics before I'd be sold on this. Seems to me that once you got beyound 1/8 inch, it wouldn't be that transparent. Also, by then, you'd be talking about 1000's of procedures, which would be very time intensive to manufacture. I'm sure it will have it's uses, but I don't see it being used as windows like some are envisioning. Still, interesting.

Stevo report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Artificial Diamond Technology, re: Settle Down!

Oct 09, 2007 11:54     

The work in artificial diamond technology was for finding a new material for computing besides silicon. The problem was that real diamonds had flaws. The diamond technology succeeded and they make their own funds for research by selling the diamonds in competition with DeBeers, the diamond hogs.., so now debeers tries to certify their diamonds as 'real' diamonds. You can buy artifical diamonds today.

- K report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0