Hit me baby one more time: Scientists invent new material that toughens up with rapid impacts

Electronic sensors, prosthetic limbs as well as wearables could be made from a special material that toughens up as it is hit or stretched, a property known as 'adaptive durability', research from the University of California has found.

What is this new material like?

The new material is inspired by the corn starch used in cooking, which can be stirred when water is added. The slurry nature of the corn starch acts like a solid when stirred or whenpunched quickly.

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Understanding the science of adaptive durability

When you squish cornstarch, the tiny particles or its basic building blocks repel each other due to which they act like a fluid.

But if the surface is hit fast, the friction makes it act like a solid.

Researchers used two positively charged and two negatively charged polymers to create a material with super-small structures like miniature meatballs.

These 'meatballs' do not break apart, and the conductivity of the material is withheld right.

Scientists incorporated long molecules of poly(2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid), short polyaniline molecules, and a highly efficient conductor – poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS).

Complex names, aren't they?

Well, all you need to know is that this combination created a material that deformed or stretched out when it was hit by rapid impacts.

The faster the impacts, the tougher the material became and added 10 per cent more to the adaptive durability and the conductivity of the material.

There are applications for such material if it can be manufactured at scale.

Researchers have proposed smartwatch bands, wearable sensors and health monitors to be made with such material.

Eventually, artificial limbs could be 3D printed from this material.

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"There are a number of potential applications, and we're excited to see where this new, unconventional property will take us," materials scientist Yue Wang was quoted as saying by Science Alert.

The research has been presented at the Spring 2024 meeting of the American Chemical Society.

(With inputs from agencies)