WASHINGTON: Researchers, including one of Indian-origin, have developed the thinnest plates ever that can be picked up by hands and can spring back to original shape even after being bent and twisted.
The plates are thousands of times thinner than a sheet of paper and hundreds of times thinner than household cling wrap or aluminium foil, researchers said.
Like cling wrap, comparably thin materials immediately curl up on themselves and get stuck in deformed shapes if they are not stretched on a frame or backed by another material.
Being able to stay in shape without additional support would allow this material, and others designed on its principles, to be used in aviation and other structural applications where low weight is at a premium.
“Materials on the nanoscale are often much stronger than you’d expect, but they can be hard to use on the macroscale,” said Igor Bargatin, professor at University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering in US.
“We’ve essentially created a freestanding plate that has nanoscale thickness but is big enough to be handled by hand. That hasn’t been done before,” said Bargatin.(AGENCIES)
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