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Bulletproofgraphenemakesultrastrongbodyarmour
19:0027November2014byRebeccaBoyle
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Layersofcarbononeatomthickcanabsorb
blowsthatwouldpunchthroughsteel.
Recenttestssuggestthatpuregraphene
performstwiceaswellasthefabriccurrently
usedinbulletproofvests,makingitanideal
armourforsoldiersandpolice.
Grapheneisasheetofsinglecarbonatoms
bondedtogetherinahoneycombshape.
Becauseitisanexcellentconductorofheat
andelectricity,grapheneisalreadyusedin
computersandelectronics.Butit'salso
incrediblystrongforitsslightweight,
potentiallymakingitanidealmaterialfor
bodyarmour.

Alloverprotectionfromasingleatom(Image:Sipa
USA/REX)

However,it'strickytofirehighspeedshots
throughsuchathinmaterialtotestitstoughnessbecauseatomthickmaterialiscompletely
destroyedbysuchanimpact.Previousworkusednanopokerstopushintographeneatwalking
speed(lessthan1meterpersecond),orashotgunapproachusingseverallaserpulses.Butthese
methodscouldn'tprovideevidenceofgraphene'srealstrengthinthefaceofahighspeedprojectile,
saysJaeHwangLeeattheUniversityofMassachusettsAmherst.
Leeandcolleaguesdevisedanewminiatureballisticstesttotestgraphene'smettle.Theyuseda
laserpulsetosuperheatgoldfilamentsuntiltheyvaporised,actinglikegunpowdertofireamicron
sizeglassbulletinto10to100sheetsofgrapheneat3000meterspersecondaboutonethirdof
thespeedofabulletfiredfromanM16rifle.
Theteamfoundthatgraphenesheetsdissipatethiskineticenergybystretchingintoaconeshape
atthebullet'simpactpoint,andthenbycrackingoutwardradially.Thecracksareoneweaknessof
singlelayergraphene,Leesays,butitneverthelessperformstwiceaswellasKevlarand
withstands10timesthekineticenergythatsteelcan.Usingmultiplelayersofgrapheneor
incorporatingitintoacompositestructurecouldkeepthecracksfromspreading,too.

Researchershavebeenstudyinggrapheneasarmourforsometime,butLee'sisthefirstpaperto
describejusthowthematerialabsorbskineticenergy.Soundwavestravelthreetimesfaster
throughgraphenethantheydothroughsteel,whichmeansmaterialfarbeyondtheimpactpoint
canquicklyabsorbanddissipateitsenergyeffectivelyslowingtheprojectiledownandhelping
preventitspenetration.What'smore,themicrobulletmethodsLeedevelopedcouldbeusedto
studyotherhighperformancematerialsinextremeconditions.
Journalreference:Science,DOI:10.1126/science.1258544

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