Nanostructured metamaterials show a lot of promise to do in the lab, but often have fatal stress-intensive factors that limit applications. Researchers have now discovered strong, lightweight nanostructured carbon. (via BGR)
Using a multi-objective Bayesian Optimization (MBO) algorithm trained on a finite element analysis (FEA) dataset, researchers realized theoretical materials with two photon polymorphism (2PP) photolithography. The resulting “carbon nanolattes achieves the compressive strength of carbon steel (180-360 MPa) with a density of styrofoam (125-215 kg m-3), which exceeds the specific strength of comparable low density materials beyond the number of digits.”
While we probably shouldn’t start attracting space elevator startup investors, such light materials are promising for many applications, especially traditional aviation where the price of fuel (or energy) is a major constraint on operation. Like the results of the lab, it takes more work to see this in the real world, but it’s good to know that superarro and composites are not the end of the path of powerful, lightweight materials.
We’ve already seen AI help identify battery materials, but this doesn’t seem to be just about embarrassing AI taking embarrassing photos or making us smarter.
