Glassy Gels
Jun. 20th, 2024 12:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithResearchers create new class of materials called 'glassy gels'
Researchers have created a new class of materials called 'glassy gels' that are very hard and difficult to break despite containing more than 50% liquid. Coupled with the fact that glassy gels are simple to produce, the material holds promise for a variety of applications.
[---8<---]
"We've created a class of materials that we've termed glassy gels, which are as hard as glassy polymers, but -- if you apply enough force -- can stretch up to five times their original length, rather than breaking," says Michael Dickey, corresponding author of a paper on the work and the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at North Carolina State University. "What's more, once the material has been stretched, you can get it to return to its original shape by applying heat. In addition, the surface of the glassy gels is highly adhesive, which is unusual for hard materials."
Oh yeah, I remember these -- stable liquids.
"Maybe the most intriguing characteristic of the glassy gels is how adhesive they are," says Dickey. "Because while we understand what makes them hard and stretchable, we can only speculate about what makes them so sticky."
I can think of several aspects:
* They contain a lot of liquid, and moist things tend to be tacky. Think of licking your finger to pick up crumbs.
* When something stretches and then contracts, it can create tiny lines of pinching action that grip things.
* Some surfaces have high traction that can make them clingy, like using a silicone potholder to grip a jar or lid.
* Ionized things can be clingy based on their electrochemical qualities.
* Some gels and polymers are glues. This category of materials could be glue-adjacent, meaning here it is a stable liquid but if you tweak it a bit, then it could turn into glue form.
... this is starting to remind me of Terramagne tacky gel. Now I want to electrocute the stuff and see if it can be made to change form by zapping it the right way.
"Creating glassy gels is a simple process that can be done by curing it in any type of mold or by 3D printing it," says Dickey. "Most plastics with similar mechanical properties require manufacturers to create polymer as a feedstock and then transport that polymer to another facility where the polymer is melted and formed into the end product.
That's going to be super useful in 3D printing. My first thought is to print customized grip pads to keep things from slipping. Especially if it is flexible enough to make a good suction cup. Make one for the bottom of your blender so it doesn't dance over the countertop. Suction bottoms exist but don't work as well as actual clamps.
I wish L-America would throw invention fairs. You know, invite a bunch of inventors to somewhere like a university that has a lot of labs and workshops. Stock a room with some old and new materials, then see what people come up with just screwing around and brainstorming under the influence of way too much caffeine and sugar.
Researchers have created a new class of materials called 'glassy gels' that are very hard and difficult to break despite containing more than 50% liquid. Coupled with the fact that glassy gels are simple to produce, the material holds promise for a variety of applications.
[---8<---]
"We've created a class of materials that we've termed glassy gels, which are as hard as glassy polymers, but -- if you apply enough force -- can stretch up to five times their original length, rather than breaking," says Michael Dickey, corresponding author of a paper on the work and the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at North Carolina State University. "What's more, once the material has been stretched, you can get it to return to its original shape by applying heat. In addition, the surface of the glassy gels is highly adhesive, which is unusual for hard materials."
Oh yeah, I remember these -- stable liquids.
"Maybe the most intriguing characteristic of the glassy gels is how adhesive they are," says Dickey. "Because while we understand what makes them hard and stretchable, we can only speculate about what makes them so sticky."
I can think of several aspects:
* They contain a lot of liquid, and moist things tend to be tacky. Think of licking your finger to pick up crumbs.
* When something stretches and then contracts, it can create tiny lines of pinching action that grip things.
* Some surfaces have high traction that can make them clingy, like using a silicone potholder to grip a jar or lid.
* Ionized things can be clingy based on their electrochemical qualities.
* Some gels and polymers are glues. This category of materials could be glue-adjacent, meaning here it is a stable liquid but if you tweak it a bit, then it could turn into glue form.
... this is starting to remind me of Terramagne tacky gel. Now I want to electrocute the stuff and see if it can be made to change form by zapping it the right way.
"Creating glassy gels is a simple process that can be done by curing it in any type of mold or by 3D printing it," says Dickey. "Most plastics with similar mechanical properties require manufacturers to create polymer as a feedstock and then transport that polymer to another facility where the polymer is melted and formed into the end product.
That's going to be super useful in 3D printing. My first thought is to print customized grip pads to keep things from slipping. Especially if it is flexible enough to make a good suction cup. Make one for the bottom of your blender so it doesn't dance over the countertop. Suction bottoms exist but don't work as well as actual clamps.
I wish L-America would throw invention fairs. You know, invite a bunch of inventors to somewhere like a university that has a lot of labs and workshops. Stock a room with some old and new materials, then see what people come up with just screwing around and brainstorming under the influence of way too much caffeine and sugar.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-06-20 10:11 am (UTC)From the sound of it, the glassy gels are sticky because they have bipolar molecules, hydrophillic and hydrophobic ends, on the same chain.
Yes ...
Date: 2024-06-20 10:27 am (UTC)Now I'm thinking of those magnet toys where you have a pile of rods and a pile of spheres so you can build things. It should be possible to make constructs from a pile of glassy gel pieces similarly.
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2024-06-20 10:30 am (UTC)Heh! Yeah.. electrostatic but yes.. actually they ought to display diamagnetic properties as well come to think of it.
No idea what you'd use them for, but I'm betting there's some smart people who think of a use or three. There always is when someone invents new types of materials.
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2024-06-20 06:15 pm (UTC)Re: Yes ...
Date: 2024-06-20 06:38 pm (UTC)Oo! yes! Sticky blocks! (actually that name might be taken) but you could do that, open source it with a website with different 'recipes' and starter ideas.
I'll dig into it and see how hard they are to make, but if it's kitchen sink level science, then it would be easy to bootstrap development! Just put the recipes online and point enough people at it and let them share ideas on a forum.
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2024-06-20 07:41 pm (UTC)Just riff synonyms. Holler if you need help brainstorming.
I've seen various types of sticky blocks, so these could be useful as toys if nontoxic. Kids often like sticky things. There's a whole branch of fidgets made of a sticky gel.
For the love of all good sense, test the stuff first. America has little requirement to test new materials before releasing them. Hmm, you could open source that too.
I don't really approve of the guess-first approach to science. I think you should spend time exploring, poking around, and observing before formulating a hypothesis to test. Especially with a new material, you need to fool around with "What happens if I freeze this? Boil it? Will it melt a latex condom or silicone toys? Is it safe with different lubes? If you stick it to a wall, will it harm indoor paint? Outdoor paint? Milk paint?" and so on.
>> open source it with a website with different 'recipes' and starter ideas.<<
Agreed. Multiple materials like moldable polymers have a user hub site like that. I can't code but I'm good at describing what kind of organization is good in a website.
Oh hey! This would work great for adaptive equipment. Let's give some to disabled inventors and see what tools they come up with. I would start by using it for the grabber end of reaching tools, grip pads and handles, the bottom of bowls and plates, etc.
>> I'll dig into it and see how hard they are to make, but if it's kitchen sink level science, then it would be easy to bootstrap development! Just put the recipes online and point enough people at it and let them share ideas on a forum.<<
The article claimed that glassy gels are easy to make, so that's promising.
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2024-06-20 07:52 pm (UTC)Valid points... lets not do safety third!
And easy to make means different things for material scientists and normal people..
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2024-06-20 08:16 pm (UTC)Re: Yes ...
Date: 2024-06-20 08:20 pm (UTC)Fair point... there's a large number of Matter Hackers out there. Some of whom twist my brain into pretzels.
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2024-06-20 10:33 am (UTC)That would work... Hmm... I wonder if you could make them self-assembling..
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2024-06-20 06:11 pm (UTC)There are folks working on origami robots, memory-material robots, and botlets that assemble themselves into different configurations of robot to solve challenges. I'd say talk to them and offer them samples of the new material to experiment with.
... aaaand now I'm remembering all the SF stories about psycho robots with a metallic skeleton inside a translucent layer. 0_o
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2024-06-20 06:40 pm (UTC)Ok.. yes.. that would be one use case I guess. Although, I wonder if you could use them as muscle fibres...
Although, I'm more thinking of Baymax...
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2024-06-20 07:33 pm (UTC)Heat-pump muscles, yeah, they're a different mode from meat-muscles or hydraulics but they can work. You need a way of handling environmental fluctuations but then that's always necessary for lifeforms and machines.
>> Although, I'm more thinking of Baymax... <<
He was inflatable, but this version should be more durable.
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2024-06-20 07:46 pm (UTC)Exactly this would be the field version of Baymax, parachuted in and deployed at mass casualty events. Heck, depending on the resilience, maybe even combat zones !
The anime showed why an inflatable Baymax wasn't the best idea ever... repeatedly. Still, probably just about ok for in an urban indoor setting.
Oh.. and I was thinking of glassy gel fibres threaded with wire, utilising resistive heating to make the fibre shrink.
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2024-06-21 06:09 am (UTC)The original was meant like a first aid kit, so it needed to pack down small. Inflatable works well for that. A field unit won't be able to compress like that, but won't need to and will be be sturdier.
>>Oh.. and I was thinking of glassy gel fibres threaded with wire, utilising resistive heating to make the fibre shrink.<<
That should work.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-06-22 03:34 am (UTC)Yeah, we need an ENORMOUS maker fair.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-06-22 09:38 am (UTC)Something on the scale of the Worlds Fare or Expo... but on a regular recurring basis.
Well ...
Date: 2024-06-22 09:47 am (UTC)When it comes to big events, a conference is good for announcing stuff in a seminar -- if people are tolerant of crowds. A lot of nerds prefer to hole up in their workshop and aren't fond of large noisy groups.
Re: Well ...
Date: 2024-06-22 09:54 am (UTC)That's why I was thinking Worlds fare actually.. bring in the big boys in science and industry, but there a whole lot of little booths etc in between the pavilions. Then we get economies of scale, pull in enough exhibitors to reduce costs to the point where anyone can pitch a tent or a table.
Although Makers fares are a thing already, and the biggest of those does pull in the more socially pro-active companies, while still being a home for odd-balls and weirdos that do engineering and science for fun!
(no subject)
Date: 2024-06-22 05:01 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2024-06-22 05:14 pm (UTC)Valid point... smaller touring fares as well?
(no subject)
Date: 2024-06-22 05:41 pm (UTC)The house I lived in before this one had central air conditioning built into the furnace ducts. This house just has window air conditioners, and we rent. Next house is going to have "split cycle" heating and cooling. Much more sensible and efficient.
Most of my ancestors evolved in cool climates - British Isles, Scandinavia, so I'm not biologically optimized for hot weather. My Scottish ancestors lived in villages that were repeatedly pillaged by Vikings, so there must be some Norse DNA in there somewhere. And the Native Americans of northeastern North America were able to weather harsh winters. But none of my ancestors came from the tropics or the desert. Just give me an environmentally controlled (with very accurate controls) little capsule in a space station, with air temperature, pressure, chemical mix, and motion controlled at my whim with a click of a key or a spoken command.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-06-20 05:43 pm (UTC)Shoot out the "web", and it stretch and wraps around the target(s) as well as sticking to them. Then zap it or whatever and it shrink back enough to be *really* hard to get pout of.
Thoughts
Date: 2024-06-20 07:26 pm (UTC)Re: Thoughts
Date: 2024-06-21 04:10 am (UTC)Way too many ways you could injure or kill someone thru improper use. Or even "proper" use combined with bad luck.
Wrapping too tight around limbs, wrapping too tight around the neck, covering too much of the face.
Also if it wraps too tight, or hits at a bad angle you could have broken bones or sprains.
And you just *know* that in a bad situation, it'll turn out that the "de-tangler" will have been left at the station meaning they'll have to try to cut the person(s) out. Which can go wrong so easily.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2024-06-21 04:23 am (UTC)So we look for a solvent, preferably something that anyone could carry at need, the way activists carry materials for dealing with tear gas and other chemical weapons.