Hello computer. Can you use transparent alumninum? This is better!

EETimes.com – Carbon-impregnated plastic: Strong as steel Thin as cellophane — Now you’re talking!

Now, an engineering professor at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor claims to have invented a “brick-and-mortar” technique that achieves that goal by mimicking the way oysters embed calcium carbonate into an organic matrix to create sea-shells–one of the strongest materials found in nature. The result is a material as strong as steel, but ultra-thin and transparent.



  1. ECA says:

    Looks as if someone has found a better cheaper way of doing something we have know about for 30 years??
    Ever hear of carbon fiber Rods??

  2. Dallas says:

    Soldiers wrapped in cellophane would be a great application for this and very sexy, I might add.

  3. tkane says:

    Michigan rocks.

    I especially enjoyed this part of the description: “And the hydrogen atoms act like Velcro–if stress breaks one hydrogen bond, it can reform with an adjacent atom to maintain the overall strength of the material.” Hmm. If it self heals, how do you throw it away when you’re done with it? ‘Set your phaser on kill and aim very carefully’.

  4. soundwash says:

    i wonder if its cheap/easy to make… this stuff
    would be great for making car bodies and the
    like.

  5. Ubiquitous Talking Head says:

    Not exactly on topic, but… you know there IS such a thing as transparent aluminum?

    Basically, you just have to cool motel aluminum fast enough to keep it from crystalizing. (Not easy, but possible.)

  6. cheese says:

    Oh great… now I’ll never get those “anti-theft” packages from Wal-Mart to open!

  7. Angel H. Wong says:

    Can you say Marines in Power Ranger uniforms?

  8. iGlobalWarmer says:

    Why hasn’t anyone connected the biggest benefit here? This could allow us to sequester all atmospheric carbon into plastic and bring about the next ice age.


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