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    ‘Metallic Wood’ has the Strength of Titanium and the Density of Water

    January 31, 2019, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics, Chemistry/Nanotechnology

    A microscopic sample of the researchers’ “metallic wood.” Its porous structure is responsible for its high strength-to-weight ratio, and makes it more akin to natural materials, like wood.

    High-performance golf clubs and airplane wings are made out of titanium, which is as strong as steel but about twice as light. These properties depend on the way a metal’s atoms are stacked, but random defects that arise in the manufacturing process mean that these materials are only a fraction as strong as they could theoretically be. An architect, working on the scale of individual atoms, could design and build new materials that have even better strength-to-weight ratios.

    In a new study published in Nature Scientific Reports, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Enginee...

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