A team led by Ido Braslavsky at Hebrew University mixed cellulose nanocrystals into ice and added a protein that binds both cellulose and ice. The resulting composite is about 10× stronger than ordinary ice and absorbs ~70× more energy before failure.
BioPykrete combines cellulose nanocrystals and a chimeric protein that binds ice and cellulose, producing a three-dimensional reinforcing network within frozen water.
Under compression, the composite reached strength comparable to conventional concrete and absorbed roughly 70 times more energy before failing than pure ice.
The engineered protein doubled both strength and energy absorption versus an ice-plus-cellulose blend without the molecular bridge, indicating the bonding at interfaces is critical.
(Nanowerk News) By reinforcing ice with tiny plant-based crystals and a specially designed protein, researchers created a material that rivals concrete in strength and absorbs 70 times more energy before breaking. It has one major weakness: cracks can race through it, causing it to shatter without warning. Now, scientists have developed a new material that could overcome that problem.
Called BioPykrete, the reinforced ice is about 10 times stronger than ordinary ice and can absorb roughly 70 times more energy before breaking. Rather than shattering suddenly, it bends and breaks more gradually, a quality that could one day make it useful as a building material in some of the coldest places on Earth. Biointerfaces ("Biomimetic engineering of a fortified ice composite with enhanced mechanical properties"), was led by Prof.
Ice is cheap, abundant and surprisingly strong. Ido Braslavsky of Hebrew University's Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment.
Researchers in Brazil have shown that a fast, low-cost fiber fabrication technique can turn a common fluoropolymer into tough, water-repellent nanocomposite mats—but only up to a sharply defined tipping point. By blending montmorillonite clay into poly(vinylidene fluoride), or PVDF, and spinning the mixture into micro-
Лёд удалось сделать в 10 раз прочнее обычного. И он приблизился к бетону по одному из показателей. Для чего понадобился такой лёд и где его хотят использовать?
A new kind of “super ice” that has its origins in a wild World War II plan to build ships from ice and wood pulp could give future engineers a novel toolkit for construction in polar or even alien environments. Continue Reading Category: <a href="https://newat...
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Researchers have made a flame-retardant composite material fully recyclable.
Researchers developed a new spinning process that produces exceptionally strong graphene fibers while preserving the material’s high thermal conductivity.
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