Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have engineered a new type of rubber-like material that can absorb and release enormous amounts of energy.
This new material, which is similar to the suit of one of the Marvel superheroes, Black Panther, can be used in various fields such as robotics, building protective equipment, and many more.
Alfred Crosby, professor of polymer science and engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, describes this material with the simplest example of a rubber band.
"You pull it back, and when you let go, this material flies across the room," he said.
"Now imagine a super rubber band. When you stretch it past a certain point, you activate the extra energy stored in the material. When you let this rubber band bounce, it can fly a mile," says Crosby.
This material is made of a new metamaterial that contains an elastic and rubber-like substance along with tiny magnets embedded in it.
Crosby explained, this material can also take advantage of a physical property known as phase shift that makes it capable of releasing or absorbing energy.
One might be reminded of the Black Panther suit which is capable of absorbing kinetic-based attacks such as bullet fire, penetrating swords, and resisting blows.
Crosby explains that getting enough energy through phase shifts is the tricky part of processing this material. But the team can achieve this by using meta materials.
Crosby added that they not only created new materials but also developed design algorithms that allow these materials to be programmed with specific responses, thereby making them predictable.
Because this elastic material has a small magnet, the phase transition can be controlled to do exactly what the researchers want and that is to absorb energy from a large impact, or release a large amount of energy for explosive motion.
In real-world applications, these materials can be used in scenarios where high impact forces or lightning-fast response are required.