March 29, 2024

Scientists Develop New “Unbreakable Glass” Inspired by Nature – 3x Stronger, 5x More Fracture-Resistant

( A) Glass composite (without index-matching strategy on left and with index-matching on right), (B) Glass composites microstructure, (C) View of the nacreous layer in red abalone shell, and (D) Nacres microstructure. Credit: Allen Ehrlicher
Nature as master of style
Drawing inspiration from nature, the scientist created a new glass and acrylic composite product that simulates nacre or mother of pearl. “Nature is a master of style. Studying the structure of biological materials and understanding how they work deals inspiration, and in some cases blueprints, for new materials,” states Ehrlicher.
” Amazingly, nacre has the rigidity of a stiff product and toughness of a soft product, giving it the finest of both worlds,” he discusses. “Its made of stiff pieces of chalk-like matter that are layered with soft proteins that are extremely flexible. This structure produces extraordinary strength, making it 3000 times tougher than the materials that compose it.”
The scientists took the architecture of nacre and reproduced it with layers of glass flakes and acrylic, yielding an incredibly strong yet opaque material that can be produced easily and cheaply. They then went a step even more to make the composite optically transparent. “By tuning the refractive index of the acrylic, we made it seamlessly blend with the glass to make a truly transparent composite,” says lead author Ali Amini, a Postdoctoral Researcher at McGill. As next steps, they plan to improve it by including wise technology permitting the glass to alter its homes, such as color, mechanics, and conductivity.
( A) Glass composites microstructure and (B) Nacres microstructure. Credit: Allen Ehrlicher
Lost creation of versatile glass
Flexible glass is apparently a lost creation from the time of the reign of the Roman Emperor Tiberius Caesar. According to popular historic accounts by Roman authors Gaius Plinius Secundus and Petronius, the innovator brought a drinking bowl made from the material before the Emperor. When the bowl was tested to break it, it only dented instead of shattering.
After the innovator swore he was the only individual who understood how to produce the material, Tiberius had the male carried out, fearing that the glass would cheapen gold and silver because it may be more important.
” When I consider the story of Tiberius, Im delighted that our material development results in publication instead of execution,” says Ehrlicher.
Recommendation: “Centrifugation and index-matching yields a strong and transparent bioinspired nacreous composite” by Ali Amini, Adele Khavari, Francois Barthelat, and Allen J. Ehrlicher, 10 September 2021, Science.DOI: 10.1126/ science.abf0277.

Shiny nacre of Abalone washed ashore.
Strongest and most difficult glass known developed by McGill University researchers.
Researchers from McGill University develop more powerful and harder glass, influenced by the inner layer of mollusk shells. Instead of shattering upon impact, the brand-new product has the resiliency of plastic and could be used to improve mobile phone screens in the future, to name a few applications.
While techniques like laminating and tempering can assist strengthen glass, they are expensive and no longer work when the surface area is harmed. “Until now there were trade-offs in between high strength, durability, and openness. Our new product is not just 3 times stronger than the regular glass, however also more than 5 times more fracture-resistant,” says Allen Ehrlicher, an Associate Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at McGill University.

Our new product is not just 3 times more powerful than the regular glass, however also more than five times more fracture-resistant,” states Allen Ehrlicher, an Associate Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at McGill University.

Drawing motivation from nature, the scientist produced a brand-new glass and acrylic composite product that mimics nacre or mom of pearl. The scientists took the architecture of nacre and duplicated it with layers of glass flakes and acrylic, yielding an extremely strong yet opaque product that can be produced quickly and inexpensively. “By tuning the refractive index of the acrylic, we made it seamlessly mix with the glass to make a truly transparent composite,” states lead author Ali Amini, a Postdoctoral Researcher at McGill. Flexible glass is apparently a lost innovation from the time of the reign of the Roman Emperor Tiberius Caesar.