Researchers at NIST examined the toughness of films composed of silica nanoparticles coated in polymer chains using Laser-Induced Projectile Impact Testing, or LIPIT. With LIPIT, they propelled tiny projectiles toward the films and used a camera and strobe light to capture their position every 100 nanoseconds. The amount that the projectiles slowed down after piercing the films revealed the material's toughness.
Credit: NIST
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Columbia Engineering have discovered a new method to improve the toughness of materials that could lead to stronger versions of body armor, bulletproof glass and other ballistic equipment.
In a study published today in Soft Matter, the team produced films composed of nanometer-scale ceramic particles decorated with polymer strands (resembling fuzzy orbs) and made them targets in miniature impact tests that showed off the material’s enhanced toughness. Further tests unveiled a unique property not shared by typical polymer-based materials that allowed the films to dissipate energy from impacts rapidly.
“Because this material doesn't follow traditional concepts of toughening that you see in classical polymers, it opens up new ways to design materials for impact mitigation,” said NIST materials research engineer Edwin Chan, a co-author of the study.
The polymers that constitute most of the high-impact plastics today consist of linear chains of repeating synthetic molecules that either physically intertwine or form chemical bonds with each other, forming a highly entangled network. The same principle applies to most polymer composites, which are often strengthened or toughened by having some nonpolymer material mixed in. The films in the new study fall into this category but feature a unique design.
“Mixing together plastics with some solid particles is like tr ..
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