New Material Worked Like Glass

Recycle the waste into one of the waste handling waste. Many countries that have implemented this to preserve the environment. However, not all materials can be recycled. In developed countries, like America and Japan, is the largest electronic waste. Unfortunately, the electronic circuit made ​​of resin is very difficult to repair and re-established. Therefore, recycling of electronic circuits is a challenge. Not only the electronic circuit, device sailboards and aircraft also have the same problem. Although the resin has a strong and lightweight material. But now, a team led by Ludwik Leibler, CNRS researcher at the Laboratoire "Matière Molle et Chimie" (CNRS / ESPCI ParisTech), developed a new class of compounds which are capable of remarkable achievements. Repaired and recycled, this novel material can be formed and reversibly at high temperatures. And, surprisingly enough, also maintains certain properties specific to the organic resin and rubber: it is light, is insoluble and difficult to break. Cheap and easy to produce, this material can be used in various industrial applications, particularly in the automobile, aeronautics, construction, electronics and leisure sector.

Resins to be one material chosen by the automotive industry, electronics, aircraft, because the quality of the materials are strong and lightweight. Resin has a better economic value than iron. The resin has a strong mechanical strength, thermal and chemical resistance have. However, such resins must be cured in situ, using from the outset the definitive shape of the part to be produced. In fact, once these resins have hardened, welding and repair become impossible. In addition, even when hot, it is impossible to reshape parts in the manner of a blacksmith or glassmaker.

This is because glass (inorganic silica) is a unique material: once heated, it changes from a solid to a liquid state in a very progressive manner (glass transition), which means it can be shaped as required without using molds. Conceiving highly resistant materials that can be repaired and are infinitely malleable, like glass, is a real challenge both in economic and ecological terms. It requires a material that is capable of flowing when hot, while being insoluble and neither as brittle nor as “heavy” as glass.

From ingredients that are currently available and used in industry (epoxy resins, hardeners, catalysts, etc.), researchers from the Laboratoire “Matière Molle et Chimie” (CNRS/ESPCI ParisTech) developed a novel organic material made of a molecular network with original properties: under the action of heat, this network is capable of reorganizing itself without altering the number of cross-links between its atoms. This novel material goes from the liquid to the solid state or vice versa, just like glass. Until now, only silica and some inorganic compounds were known to show this type of behavior. The material thus acts like purely organic silica. It is insoluble even when heated above its glass transition temperature.

Because of these advantageous properties of composites, the use of these materials can compete with resin and metal. Due to its suitability for use in the electronics industry, aircraft, aeronautics, and printing.  In addition to these applications, these results shed unexpected light on a fundamental problem: the physics of glass transition. This work is published on 18 November 2011 in Science.

Source: http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/1932.htm