Chemists have invented a new material that could be the future of body armor — chainmail. But this isn’t the Middle Ages all over again; the new super-strong material is made of molecules that are interlocked on a nanoscale, scientists say.
Researchers fused lines of molecules like links in a chain to create sheets of the world’s first two-dimensional mechanically interlocked material (2D MIM), which has length and width. The material contains 100 trillion chemical bonds per square centimeter (around 650 trillion per square inch), which is the highest density of mechanical bonds ever achieved, the researchers reported in the study, published Jan. 16 in the journal Science.
The study authors added a small amount of the material to a tough plastic material called Ultem — also made from molecule chains. Ultem is already incredibly strong but became even stronger with the 2D MIM. The research, which could eventually be used in body armor, was partly funded by the government’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
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