First just a theoretical phantom that could not be practically built. But then 3D-printers came out and they can print incredible things.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
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It started with just a theory. A theory of tubulanes. These were complex structures made from interwoven carbon nanotubes and were first dreamed of by material scientists back in 1993. The math seemed to indicate that they should be incredibly durable but their structure was so complex that they could not figure out how to make them. Until now.
It was 3D printing that was the key. Thanks to it material scientists could bring tubulanes to reality. Seyed Mohammad Sajadi from Rice University and his coworkers created 3D-printed polymer cubes in highly complex layers. And even though the cubes are obviously full of holes they are almost as hard as diamond.
For some time we have known about many theoretical materials but we just haven't been able to synthesize them in the real world. 3D-print may change that – at least with some theoretical materials.
The created 3D-printed polymer cubes were thoroughly tested and they used cubes from the same polymer that were made from homogeneous matter to compare the results. And the tests were truly extreme, the scientists fired bullets into the cubes at the speed of 5.8 kilometers per hour. The layered cubes were ten times better at stopping the bullets than the homogeneous cubes. They stopped the bullets in the second layer while tears could be found across the whole homogeneous cube. Similarly well, the tubulanes were just as good when it came to compression tests.
The scientists also mention that tubulanes and what we make from them is only limited by the size of the 3D-printed. And also, we do not need to use only polymers. Versions from metal or even ceramics are certainly feasible as well and could find usage in construction, aviation, or even cosmic technologies.
Sources:
- https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191113114913.htm
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/smll.201904747
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