Scientists have created a fresh material called diamene , which forebode to be as flexible as tin foil but hard enough to stop a bullet .
The study , lead by Advanced Science Research Center ( ASRC ) at The City University of New York ( CUNY ) , was publish inNature Nanotechnology .
It show how two layers of graphene ( each one - molecule thick ) could be used to make a diamond - like material upon impact at elbow room temperature . There are potentially many uses of such a stuff , from water - repellent protective coatings to ultra - light bulletproof armor .
" This is the thin film with the stiffness and inclemency of ball field ever created , " said Elisa Riedo , professor of physics at the ASRC and the project ’s lead researcher , in astatement . " antecedently , when we test black lead or a single nuclear layer of graphene , we would hold pressure and feel a very soft film . But when the graphite motion picture was incisively two - layer thick-skulled , all of a sudden we realized that the material under pressure was becoming extremely hard and as stiff , or starchy , than bulk diamond . "
Diamene is easy and tractile until pressure is applied , when it becomes much more rigid . So if the diamene is shoot by a smoke , for instance , it would prevent it overstep through . It was first theorized using calculator simulation in this written report . Then , an nuclear force microscope was used to apply pressure to two - layer graphene , finding an agreement with the calculations .
Interestingly , the graphene - diamond changeover was found to only occur with on the dot two layer of graphene . Any more or less and it did n’t work .
" Graphite and diamonds are both made totally of carbon , but the atoms are arranged differently in each stuff , yield them distinguishable properties such as callousness , tractability and electrical conduction , " enounce Angelo Bongiorno from CUNY , part of the research team . " Our new technique allow for us to manipulate black lead so that it can take on the beneficial properties of a diamond under specific conditions . "
Graphene is the “ miracle material ” that wasessentially first discoveredback in 2004 , made by deprive graphite into undivided layer of atoms . Since then scientists have proposed a routine of novel the States for the cloth , fromclean energytonight sight lenses . Now , organic structure armor can ostensibly be total to the listing .
