A groundbreaking 2D polymer could give a new meaning to body armor and ballistic fabrics with its unbeatable strength and flexibility.
Whenever body armor comes to mind, we expect it to be heavy and inconvenient. However, there is a lightweight variant that makes use of 2D polymer material that is stronger than steel but as flexible as fabric. If you have this chainman mail-inspired armor, you might feel that your movements are very light—thanks to the material made out of interlocking molecular chains. What is the 2D Mechanically Interlocked Polymer Material? The discovery lies in the core of a polymer material that is built up in a special molecular structure. In contrast to traditional polymers, which depend on covalent bonds - sharing of electrons - this material makes use of mechanical bonds, physically interlocking as the links of chainmail. According to Northwestern University scientists, this makes the material exceptionally strong yet surprisingly flexible and is perfect for applications where both strength and comfort are desired, such as in body armor. How Does This Work? This 2D polymer structure is engineered at a nanoscale, which is measured in nanometers. Monomers with the shape of an X are organized into a crystal structure. Those crystals then react with a second molecule in order to mechanically bond together. "We made a completely new polymer structure," study co-author William Dichtel of Northwestern University said describing it as similar to chainmail. The end product is a sheet of 2D polymer molecules that…