Navigation Links
Fast molecular rearrangements hold key to plastic’s toughness
Date:11/27/2008

MADISON -- Plastics are everywhere in our modern world, largely due to properties that render the materials tough and durable, but lightweight and easily workable. One of their most useful qualities, however - the ability to bend rather than break when put under stress - is also one of the most puzzling.

This property, described as "plastic flow", allows many plastics to change shape to absorb energy rather than breaking apart, says University of Wisconsin-Madison chemistry professor Mark Ediger. For example, one type of bulletproof glass stops a bullet by flowing around it without breaking. Regular window glass, unable to flow in this way, would simply shatter.

"This is an odd combination of properties... These materials shouldn't be able to flow because they're rigid solids, but some of them can," he says. "How does that happen?"

Ediger's research team, led by graduate student Hau-Nan Lee, has now described a fundamental mechanism underlying this stiff-but-malleable quality. In a study appearing Nov. 28 in Science Express, they report that subjecting a common plastic to physical stress - which causes the plastic to flow - also dramatically increases the motion of the material's constituent molecules, with molecular rearrangements occurring up to 1,000 times faster than without the stress.

These fast rearrangements are likely critical for allowing the material to adapt to different conditions without immediately cracking.

Plastics are a type of material known to chemists and engineers as polymer glasses. Unlike a crystal, in which molecules are locked together in a perfectly ordered array, a glass is molecularly jumbled, with its constituent chemical building blocks trapped in whatever helter-skelter arrangement they fell into as the material cooled and solidified.

While this atomic disorder means that glasses are less stable than crystals, it also provides molecules in the glass with some wiggle room to move around without b
'/>"/>

Contact: Mark Ediger
ediger@chem.wisc.edu
608-262-7273
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Source:Eurekalert

0

GOOD

Page: 1 2 3

Related biology technology :

1. Center for Molecular Medicine Only Regional Provider of Test Suggested in FDA Alert on Prescribing Codeine to Nursing Mothers
2. Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics to Release H1 2007 Results on August 29, 2007
3. Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics Reports Half Year Results 2007
4. Rosetta Genomics to Present at the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) "Molecular Diagnostics in Cancer Therapeutic Development" Conference
5. Glycominds Joins Biomolecular Photonic (BMP) Consortium to Develop New Molecular Imaging Technique
6. Former Pfizer Director of Inflammation Molecular Sciences to Spearhead Velcura Therapeutics Inflammatory Disease Initiatives
7. Sunesis Pharmaceuticals to Present Data at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics
8. Astex Drug Candidates to be Featured at the 2007 AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics
9. Center for Molecular Medicine One of the First Midwest Labs to Offer Advanced Test for Patients with Metastatic Breast Cancer
10. Delivering Molecular Imaging Solutions Across Clinical Specialties: Siemens Showcases New Technologies at RSNA 2007
11. Center for Molecular Medicine Offers Xceed Ziplex(TM) Services to Research Community
Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
(Date:12/11/2009)... MA (12/11/2009) Boston College researchers have observed the ... first time and successfully harvested the elusive charges using ... solar power efficiency, the authors report in the current ... When light is captured in solar cells, it generates ... in order to snare these charges, the electrons must ...
(Date:12/11/2009)... Algeta ASA (OSE: ALGETA), the,cancer ... center in the,US, the Tulane Cancer Center, ... phase III clinical study of Alpharadin in ... cancer,(CRPC) that has metastasized to the skeleton. ... (ALpharadin in SYMptomatic Prostate CAncer) study is ...
(Date:12/11/2009)... -- Gwathmey, Inc., a pre-clinical contract research organization ... and cardiovascular disease announces a new CEO. ... Dunn, Ph.D., has joined Gwathmey as Chief Executive ... of experience working with small businesses and the ... Dunn managed multimillion dollar portfolios for the National ...
(Date:12/11/2009)... of a NEW 2nd North American facility in Marietta, OH. The ... to support Esco,s growth in the North American market, specifically in ... , ... Hatboro, PA (PRWEB) December 11, 2009 -- ... in Marietta, OH. The facility will serve as a technical service, ...
Breaking Biology Technology:Elusive 'hot' electrons captured in ultra-thin solar cells 2Algeta Announces First US Patient Randomized in ALSYMPCA Phase III Study at Tulane Cancer Center, New Orleans 2Algeta Announces First US Patient Randomized in ALSYMPCA Phase III Study at Tulane Cancer Center, New Orleans 3Algeta Announces First US Patient Randomized in ALSYMPCA Phase III Study at Tulane Cancer Center, New Orleans 4Rosalie Dunn, Ph.D., Joins Gwathmey, Inc. as Chief Executive Officer 2
... Inc. (OTC,Bulletin Board: SYMD), a biomaterials company engaged in ... today that Robert P. Hickey, President and CEO, will ... November 5, 2007 at,5:05 PM, EDT, at the New ... present a company overview. The presentation will be ...
... of Technologys Kavli Institute of Nanoscience and the Foundation ... controlling the spin of a single electron merely by ... much simpler realization of the building blocks of a ... work in Science Express on Thursday 1 November. , ...
... (Nasdaq: ANDS ), a biopharmaceutical company dedicated ... the areas of hepatitis C and,oncology, today reported ... 30, 2007 and operational highlights. "The third ... Anadys,",said Steve Worland, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive ...
Other Biology Technology:Delft University of Technology rotates electron spin with electric field 2Anadys Pharmaceuticals Reports Third Quarter 2007 Financial Results and Operational Highlights 2Anadys Pharmaceuticals Reports Third Quarter 2007 Financial Results and Operational Highlights 3Anadys Pharmaceuticals Reports Third Quarter 2007 Financial Results and Operational Highlights 4Anadys Pharmaceuticals Reports Third Quarter 2007 Financial Results and Operational Highlights 5Anadys Pharmaceuticals Reports Third Quarter 2007 Financial Results and Operational Highlights 6Anadys Pharmaceuticals Reports Third Quarter 2007 Financial Results and Operational Highlights 7Anadys Pharmaceuticals Reports Third Quarter 2007 Financial Results and Operational Highlights 8Anadys Pharmaceuticals Reports Third Quarter 2007 Financial Results and Operational Highlights 9
(Date:12/14/2009)... 10, 2009If you are spending the holidays with big ... you would be better off with another family, spare ... A research team from McMaster University and the University ... a species that lives in groups, members make strategic ... appear in the current issue of Biology Letters ...
(Date:12/14/2009)... -- MODA Technology Partners, a global software company ... testing for the Pharmaceutical industry, today announced the ... generation mobile data acquisition platform. The latest release ... their regulated manufacturing processes. ,, MODA 3.0 ... Fully-Configurable Test Methods: Each test method in ...
(Date:12/13/2009)... University researchers has used nanosensors to measure cancer ... Their findings, which appear December 13 in the ... could dramatically simplify the way physicians test for ... , The teamled by Mark Reed, Yale,s Harold ... Tarek Fahmy, an associate professor of biomedical and ...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):MODA Announces Availability of Third Generation Mobile Data Acquisition Platform 2Scientists use nanosensors for first time to measure cancer biomarkers in blood 2Raising Millions for Team Challenge through Rock 26amp 3B 238216 3Bn 26apos 3B Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon Program Brings Hundreds From Across the C 62462 1Raising Millions for Team Challenge through Rock 26amp 3B 238216 3Bn 26apos 3B Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon Program Brings Hundreds From Across the C 62462 2Raising Millions for Team Challenge through Rock 26amp 3B 238216 3Bn 26apos 3B Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon Program Brings Hundreds From Across the C 62462 3Raising Millions for Team Challenge through Rock 26amp 3B 238216 3Bn 26apos 3B Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon Program Brings Hundreds From Across the C 62462 4FamilyLife Supports Military Marriages in Atlanta 62459 1FamilyLife Supports Military Marriages in Atlanta 62459 2Everybodys Healthcare Is Threatened by Catholic Bishops Interference 62456 1Everybodys Healthcare Is Threatened by Catholic Bishops Interference 62456 2
... most colorful birds in the world may have a less-than-colorful ... have seen their numbers decline in recent decades, and that ... bird specialist at Texas A&M University's Schubot Exotic Bird Center, ... is studying ways to make sure macaws will not just ...
... therapy, more than virtually any other type of therapy, ... treatment success but also great concerns regarding health risks. ... its first memorandum in 1995, this field of research ... the therapeutic potential as well as the risks of ...
... Kazakhstan has yielded new evidence for domesticated horses up to ... what appear to be the remains of horse corrals beside ... enriched by horse manure. The Krasnyi Yar site was inhabited ... who relied heavily on horses for food, tools, and transport. ...
Other Biology News:Disappearing nest egg: Researcher studying declining numbers of macaws 2Development of gene therapy 2New evidence of early horse domestication 2New evidence of early horse domestication 3
Heavy-duty rim. Especially recommended as a titration flask. Corning5100. capacity 250 mL Special grade: student grade...
This CLS number is a new product number, created to easily match Cornings product number. If showing no availability yet, please order under the old Sigma-Aldrich number (F1676) or contact customer s...
Mouse monoclonal [YPF19] to Yersinia pestis F1 antigen ( Abpromise for all tested applications)....
... number is a new product number, ... number. If showing no availability yet, ... number (E6152) or contact customer service ... diam. 11.25 6.40 in. ...
Biology Products: