New nanofibers incorporate high durability just launched

Scientists at MIT have developed new ultra-strong and sturdy Polyethylene nanofibers and can be used in armor parts that are not too bulky.

Professor Gregory Rutledge, the head, created these fibers using an existing technique called gel spinning, in which a polymer gel is extruded through a heat syringe and mechanical tube turned into fibers. . However, in this case, the gel is not stretched by mechanical means but through a certain electric field.

The obtained gel-electrospun nanoparticles are only a few hundred nanometers (billionths of a meter) wide, and have a toughness that is superior to conventional materials.

Compared to conventional carbon and ceramic fibers, new nanofibers have a higher strength, but their density is also less dense, meaning it is lighter than traditional materials by weight. Its material resilience is quite good, relatively easy and inexpensive to produce.