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A D V A N C E D
M A T E R I A L S
&
P R O C E S S E S | F E B R U A R Y / M A R C H
2 0 1 7
7
Are you working with or have you
discovered a material or its properties
that exhibit OMG - Outrageous
Materials Goodness?
Send your submissions to
Frances Richards at
.
TICK CEMENT HOLDS
PROMISE AS BIOADHESIVE
Ticks are famous for their ability
to anchor themselves firmly to human
skin where they can suck blood for
several days. This anchoring mech-
anism is highly effective because it
is based on a cement-like substance
with excellent adhesive properties, so
it works like a dowel for the mouth-
parts of the tick. Researchers from
MedUni Vienna and Vienna Universi-
ty of Technology want to study this
“tick cement” and recreate it chemi-
cally for use in biomaterials research.
“It is totally conceivable that it will
be possible to use this substance to
produce a biological adhesive for hu-
man tissue, for example for anchor-
ing tendons and ligaments to bone
without using any metal,” says proj-
ect leader Sylvia Nürnberger. Tissue
adhesives currently used in surgery,
such as for serious skin injuries or
liver tears, are somewhat toxic. How-
ever, other adhesives are not strong
enough. Biological alternatives could
be an ideal solution. The tick project
aims to find new alternatives and ap-
plications for existing adhesive prod-
ucts for skin, cartilage, ligaments, and
tendons. .
TOWARD BETTER HAIR CARE
AND BODY ARMOR
Researchers at the University of
California, San Diego (UCSD) are inves-
tigating why hair is so strong and resis-
tant to breaking. Findings could lead to
development of new materials for body
armor in addition to better hair care
products. Hair has a strength to weight
ratio comparable to steel and can be
stretched up to one and a half times
its original length before breaking. Re-
searchers examined at the nanoscale
how a strand of human hair behaves
when it is deformed. The team found
that hair behaves differently depending
on how fast or slow it is stretched: The
faster it is stretched, the stronger it is.
Hair consists of twomain parts—the cor-
tex, which is made up of parallel fibrils,
and the matrix, which has an amor-
phous structure. The matrix is sensitive
to the speed at which hair is deformed,
while the cortex is not. The combina-
tion of these two components is what
gives hair the ability to withstand high
stress and strain. As hair is stretched, its
structure changes in a particular way.
At the nanoscale, the cortex fibrils in
hair are each made up of thousands of
coiled spiral-shaped molecule chains
called alpha helix chains. As hair is
deformed, these chains uncoil and be-
come pleated sheet structures known
as beta sheets. This structural change
allows hair to handle a large amount
of deformation without breaking.
jacobsschool.ucsd.edu.
GRAPHENE ENABLES WORLD’S
LIGHTEST WATCH
The University of Manchester re-
cently collaborated with watchmaking
brand Richard Mille and McLaren F1
to create world’s lightest mechanical
chronograph by pairing leading graph-
ene research with precision engineer-
ing. The RM 50-03 watch was made us-
ing a unique composite incorporating
graphene to manufacture a strong but
lightweight case to house the delicate
watch mechanism. The graphene com-
posite known as Graph TPT weighs
less than similar materials tradition-
ally used in watchmaking. The strap’s
rubber was also injected with graph-
ene, which improves both mechan-
ical properties and wear resistance.
The lightweight timepiece weighs just
40 grams and is extremely durable.
Tick cement is a potential bioadhesive
for human tissue. Courtesy of Medical
University of Vienna.
Researchers at UCSD investigate why
hair is so strong and resistant to break-
ing. Courtesy of iStock.com/natevplas.
Graphene composite watch.
OMG!
OUTRAGEOUSMATERIALSGOODNESS