When you spend money on a nice new phone, one of the first things you do (if you’re smart) is get a case to protect it. Yale professor Jan Schroers, a specialist in materials science and mechanical engineering, is seeing to it that the next generation of smartphone cases is super tough and durable. Schroers works with Bulk Metallic Glasses, or BMGs. These ultra-strong but lightweight alloys are created by cooling molten metal incredibly quickly so that the typical crystalline structure of solid metal can’t form. BMGs, also known as amorphous metals, have an atomic structure that is closer to that of glass, but they are far sturdier.

BMGs have been around since at least 1960, but until now researchers have had trouble figuring out just how to shape them for consumer use. Professor Schroers has developed a technique for forming them that involves shaping the alloys while they are in their supercooled liquid state. He uses this method, called thermoplastic forming, to create sheets of BMGs. Once the alloys are in sheet form, they can be shaped by a blow-molding process similar to that used to mold plastics.

Schroers has his eye on the consumer electronics market for the technology, to which Yale owns the rights. He has licensed those rights to create a line of ultra-durable, lightweight phone cases. They will be scratch-resistant and roughly 50 times harder than plastic. One of the main benefits of using BMGs is that buttons can be built right into the cases, opening up the possibility to make the next generation of smartphone cases waterproof as well as almost indestructible.

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In turbine blades and other applications where lightness and strength must both be abundant, balsa wood has been the gold standard material. The fast-growing wood is exceptionally stiff for its low density due to its microscopic mix of cellulose and lignin fibers. Balsa wood has its drawbacks, though: 95% of the world’s supply comes from Ecuador, and it’s getting increasingly expensive as the demand rises for high strength, low density materials.

Researchers at Harvard University have come up with a new class of cellulose composite materials that are 3D printed to have a physical structure similar to that of balsa wood. This structure is a honeycomb-type makeup that is hollow in the middle and bears weight on its walls. The “ink” used to print the structures contains two types of fillers to increase their strength: discrete carbon fibers and silicon carbide “whiskers.”

Controlling the orientation of these fillers allows the researchers to duplicate the strength of balsa wood without its occasional natural structural defects. The resulting composite materials are up to 20 times stiffer than the standard 3D printed polymers most commonly used today, and twice as strong as the strongest 3D printed polymers used thus far. The novel makeup of the printed structures will allow for much lighter wind turbine blades, car chassis, and aircraft that are just as strong as – if not stronger than – any currently manufactured.

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Artificial muscles – materials that act like natural muscles by contracting, expanding, and rotating – have always been plagued with limitations. Super-strong materials were too expensive, while inexpensive materials displayed low efficiency. Now it seems that an effective answer has been right in front of scientists, fishermen, and crafters this whole time: plastic fishing line and sewing thread.

A materials science research group at the University of Texas at Dallas began experimenting with these mundane material, twisting a plastic fiber under high tension until it was unable to twist any further. At that point, the material began to form a tight coil. When the plastic can’t coil any further, the coil is locked into place.

At this point, the coil can be considered an artificial muscle. When heat is applied, the molecules in the plastic coil contract and shorten with a surprising amount of power: more than 100 times that of biological human muscles of the same length and weight. The muscle is said to be more energy dense than jet engines. Moreover, the synthetic muscle is extremely durable and very inexpensive.

The process is simple and the materials are easy enough for anyone to obtain, but don’t dismiss this as merely a future high school science experiment. The applications of the synthetic muscle are varied and plentiful; they could be used in everything from robotics to textiles to ventilation systems. The only problem is that the artificial muscle is, at this point, still inefficient – but researchers are already working on improving this incredible, inexpensive technology.

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What do bones, wood, and honeycombs have in common? They are all examples of nature’s strong, lightweight building materials. They were also the inspiration behind a German research team’s invention of a low-density, super-strong material. Researchers at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology used laser polymer 3D printing and a ceramic coating to create this microstructured material.

The researchers experimented with different shapes, seeking the one that would allow for the greatest amount of strength with the lightest density. The structures created in the KIT lab were then subjected to strength tests via compression. The honeycomb structure proved to be the strongest. In the words of the team, the materials resemble the framework of a home with beams running in every direction. In the lab, however, the “beams” are microscopic in size.

Super-strong microstructured materials like this ceramic-polymer composite can be used in a variety of applications. Similar materials are already used as insulation or for shock absorption. Because the materials are open-pored, they can also be applied as filters in the chemical industry.

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If you thought graphene was going to be the next do-everything material, we’ve got news for you: Multi-Use Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) has just taken its place. Developed by scientists at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, this wonder material can do everything you might expect a wonder material to do – and more.

So far, TiO2’s uses include producing clean water, producing clean energy, generate hydrogen, kill bacteria, be formed into flexible solar cells, and even extend the useful lifespan of batteries. What’s more is that the materials used to make TiO2 are cheap and readily available, making its possibilities nearly endless.

TiO2 is made by forming titanium dioxide crystals into nanofibers, then forming those nanofibers into flexible membranes. The scientists who developed the material are hoping that it can help with two of the world’s biggest problems: a lack of clean drinking water and the need for clean, renewable energy. The seriously amazing substance needs some more research and work, but so far it looks to be extremely promising in the race for solving these problems.

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