Polymer
Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology reported a breakthrough – they managed to obtain a two-dimensional form of a polymer material, which at first glance has solid advantages without disadvantages. Previously, all attempts to connect polymer filaments into 2D structures turned into a fiasco. The new material is called 2DPA-1 and its characteristics are really impressive.
All polymers are created from monomers that are connected into long one-dimensional chains. The resulting filaments can be turned into 3D structures using injection molding, but American scientists have gone the other way. They took melamine molecules, which normally have the shape of rings or disks of carbon and nitrogen. As they grow, these molecules expand in only one dimension, increasing the diameter of the disk. Scientists have grown many individual melamine disks in a suitable environment, and then superimposed them on each other so that hydrogen bonds hold the molecules together. It turned out to be a kind of extremely thin film, actually two-dimensional, and therefore very light. At the same time, it is six times stronger than bulletproof glass and twice as strong as steel. In addition, 2DPA-1 proved to be impervious to liquids and gases. This combination of properties will allow the use of 2DPA-1 to create extremely lightweight, durable and waterproof coatings for cars and smartphones — and even use it as a building material.
