What happens to the iron robot, if he goes to the gym? The stronger he’ll become, because its metal parts will wear quickly and after a few visits, the design will simply fall apart. People in this area are much more fortunate — the muscles are arranged so that they are destroyed tissues are replaced by new, more durable fibers. Scientists are still not able to create identical human muscle material, but Japanese researchers seem to have done in this case, a strong breakthrough.
The maximum that you could achieve the scientists is to create materials able to heal itself. They couldn’t create a more solid connection as long as the development took a group of scientists from Hokkaido University under the guidance of Professor Jianping Gong. They created a structure that in theory able to be as durable as the tissue of the heart. Recall that the heart is able to continuously beat at a rate of approximately 72 beats per minute for over a century.
The basis for the new material was a hydrogel simultaneously consisting of rigid and elastic components. Like other hydrogels, the new material for 85% of the liquid it was dissolved monomers, capable of forming molecules of both components. In fact, they perform the same function as the amino acids in living tissue.
As predicted by scientists, when the stretching of such material hard polymer immediately begin to break down. At the end of the broken polymer chains occur chemical particles called “mechanoradical”, quickly connecting with a floating monomers and forming a new, more durable polymer chain. After a few stretching the strength of the material increased by half, the stiffness increased in 23 times, while weight has increased by 86%.
According to the project Manager Jianping Gong, their discovery will lead to the creation of new materials with excellent balance of flexibility and strength. They, in turn, can become part of the exoskeleton and to be useful in the recovery of lost people muscle.
Do you think that in creating any devices that may be useful flexible and durable material? Your bold assumption, write in the comments or in our Telegram chat.