At first glance it may seem that the picture above is a conventional trash bag. However, it is not. The photo above shows the film of carbon nanotubes that is stronger than Kevlar and more elastic carbon fiber.
Carbon nanotubes for quite a long time attracted the attention of material scientists. At the microscopic level they are very durable and flexible. However, if you create them from various materials, the properties of nanotubes are slightly reduced. The reason is that the tubes in this case are arranged randomly, whereas to obtain maximum strength it is necessary that they are located parallel to each other. A team of researchers from East China University of science and technology have found a method of production of the film, in which nanotubes are placed exactly where you want to create a durable material.
According to the website Chemical and Engineering News, this production method are somewhat similar to those methods used in glassblowing. Using a powerful directed stream of nitrogen gas, the scientists pushed the layer of carbon nanotubes along the surface of the special foundations, which was located inside an oven with a temperature of 1149 degrees Celsius. At the outlet of the furnace the material is literally wrapped around the tubular base. Then the scientists cooled it. The result is a two-layer film. Next, the tape is rolled out and aligned with a system of special rollers.
Perhaps the process of production and does not look remarkable, but the result is quite impressive. The tensile strength of the films obtained is 9.6 of gigapascal. For comparison, the tensile strength of Kevlar fibres is only 3.7 gigapascal, and the strength of carbon was dragged approximately 7 GPA. In addition, the material is very stretchy. It may last for approximately 8 percent of the original length, which is slightly more than the possibility of carbon fiber that can stretch up to 6 percent of the initial value.
Scientists say that the material, adding different amounts of additional layers may be applied in various fields. For example, you can create durable coatings for different vessels and parts of spacecraft, as well as for the production of new types of armor for military purposes. Or very, very high quality garbage bags.