New toughest material created.

**mr_smiles** · 01-12-11, 02:49

http://newscenter.lbl.gov/news-relea...ss-tops-steel/

I'd imagine since the article says

strength and toughness beyond that of any known material

it should be stronger than silicon carbide, and it's not a brittle material

**montanadave** · 01-12-11, 07:47

And it's made with palladium, the sources of which can be counted on one hand, one of which happens to be right down the road at the Stillwater Mine.

Good for local business!

**PlatoCATM** · 01-12-11, 08:33

Pretty cool. I wonder how this differs from Corning's gorilla glass made in the '60s. It's only being used now on some cell phones and stuff as far as I know. Maybe Berkeley and the DOE just figured out the formula. Maybe this will expand the products it's used on and lower the price. I could see a few serious applications for this stuff.

**BrianS** · 01-12-11, 10:33

This is weird stuff, reminds me of the transparent aluminum in Star Trek IV.

**Jer** · 01-12-11, 12:51

Originally Posted by PlatoCATM

Pretty cool. I wonder how this differs from Corning's gorilla glass made in the '60s. It's only being used now on some cell phones and stuff as far as I know. Maybe Berkeley and the DOE just figured out the formula. Maybe this will expand the products it's used on and lower the price. I could see a few serious applications for this stuff.

I've got 60's technology on my Droid!

**Armati** · 01-13-11, 14:46

Pretty amazing. Right now, they can only do glass fibers up to 6mm. However, right now today I can see all sorts of spun glass applications. I could see using it pretty much anywhere you would use fiberglass, kevlar, spectra or carbon fiber.

I wonder what it's molecular weight is?

**Abraxas** · 01-13-11, 15:00

I wonder how heavy it is.

**Suwannee Tim** · 01-22-11, 20:44

This is not "glass" as most people understand the term, as a mixture of fused quartz, magnesium oxide, sodium carbonate and calcium oxide, the clear stuff windows and bottles are made of. When they call this stuff glass they are referring to it's structure which is amorphous or non-crystalline. It is made of metals and unlike "glass" these metals are not in the oxide or carbonate forms. I have not seen this stuff of course but I have seen amorphous iron used for transformer cores and it looks like any other metal, shiny and opaque, not clear. Metals, being conductors cannot be clear like "glass". Only dielectrics, that is, non-conductors can be clear. The palladium content would make this stuff terrifically expensive.

Originally Posted by Armati

....I wonder what it's molecular weight is?

It's not a compound so it has no molecular weight. It is a alloy, a mixture.

I think the real benefit of this stuff is will not be in structural uses but as a stepping stone in the path of engineered materials.

Originally Posted by Abraxas

I wonder how heavy it is.

Depends of the proportions of the constituents which are not given in the article. Somewhere between dense palladium and light phosphorus.