In flight, birds can alter the shape of their wings and bodies in order to fly better in varying conditions. What if a plane could do that, too? Such a plane would need to be made from a material that could bend and stretch like rubber, and direct changes in shape by conducting electrical signals, the way metal can.
Enter Metal Rubber—a new patented material created by a team of researchers headed by Richard Claus, professor of materials sciences and engineering, and electrical and computer engineering at Virginia Tech. Claus’ team took six years to perfect Metal Rubber, collaborating with chemist Jennifer Lalli at NanoSonic, Inc., a Blacksburg, Virginia nanotechnology company of which Claus is president.
Metal Rubber looks like brown plastic wrap, and has some amazing properties, including elasticity. "We can stretch it to about 200 to 300 percent of its original length, and it relaxes back," says Claus. "It's very tough. We can expose it to chemicals. We can put it in jet fuel. We can hit it with acetone. We can boil it in water overnight, and it doesn't mechanically or chemically degrade. We can heat it up to about…700 Fahrenheit. It won't burn. We can drop it down to about…minus 167 degrees Fahrenheit, and it maintains its properties."
To make Metal Rubber, Claus and his team built it molecule by molecule, using a nanotechnology process they call "electrostatic molecular self-assembly," which means that Metal Rubber virtually assembles itself. "Molecular self-assembly is a process that's similar to the way that your bones grow," Claus explains. "Individual molecules are formed layer by layer on a surface."
More (including a video) at
http://www.sciencentral.com/articles/view.php3?article_id=218392354
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