Canadian scientists presented a prototype for durable glass, which can be used in smartphones. The invention has been described in the SCIENCE log.
According to McGill University specialists, a new glass is five times more resistant to cracks and three times more than ordinary glass. Scientists described that the glass acrylic composite material was created by the type of the structure of the inner layer of molluscs or pearl, which consists of a particle intertwined with each other.
Shells of clams for 95 percent consist of a chalk, which is very fragile in its pure form, but the pearlum gives sinks high strength. “Surprisingly, the mother-in-law has the stiffness of a strong and strength of soft materials, which gives him the best of both worlds,” said Associate Professor of the Department of Bioengineering University of Allen Erlikher (Allen Ehrlicher). To create unbreakable glass, scientists took the pearl architecture and reproduced it with layers of glass flakes and acrylic. On this basis, there was a durable opaque material.
“configuring the refractive index of acrylic, we forced him to smoothly merge with glass, so that there was a truly transparent composite,” said Ali Amini University Researcher (Ali Amini). According to the specialists who previously obtained by them did not have a sufficient degree of transparency and, with close review, it was highlighted by a specific chess pattern.
In July, Indian scientists told about creating self-healing material for smartphone screens. Due to the molecular location in the crystals between the two surfaces of the material there is a strong force of attraction, so that the glass can be recovered after damage.