A new and amazing The material was presented at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society, an important scientific society that is meeting these days in San Diego, California. It is one of the lightest solid substances in the world, but so resistant and strong that if less than 500 grams of it were used to build a boat, it could support 453 kilos (+/- the weight of 5 refrigerators) without sinking.
The material is inspired by the secrets that allow some insects to walk on water and, if that were not enough, It is capable of absorbing large amounts of oil, paving the way for its possible use in oil spill cleanup. The new material could float on the surface, absorbing the oil without sinking. Workers could then salvage it and recover the oil.
The discovery is inspired by biomimicry, which takes elements from nature and adapts these systems for use in medicine, industry or other fields. According to Olli Ikkala of the Helsinki University of Technology in Finland, the new floating material, designed to mimic the long, thin legs of the water-walking weaver insect, is made from an aerogel, composed of nanofibres from the cellulose in plants. Aerogels are so light that some of them are even called “solid smoke.” They also have remarkable mechanical properties and are flexible.
“These materials have really spectacular properties and could be put to practical use,” Ikkala says. Potential applications range from cleaning up oil spills to creating products such as sensors for detecting environmental pollution, miniaturized military robots, and even children’s toys and virtually unsinkable floats.
The new material contains cellulose, which gives wood its remarkable strength and is the main component of plant stems, leaves and roots. Traditionally, the main commercial uses of cellulose have been in the production of paper and textiles (cotton). But the development of a highly elaborate form of cellulose, called nanocellulose, has expanded applications and sparked intense scientific research.
Renewable and Sustainable Raw Material
According to Ikkala, cellulose is the most abundant polymer on Earth, a renewable and sustainable raw material that can be used in many new ways. And nanocellulose holds great promise. “It can be of great value in helping the world adapt to materials that do not require petroleum for manufacturing and whose use does not impact food supply or prices, like corn or other crops,” Ikkala explains.
Source: ABC.es
Source: ABC.es
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