![]() For the monomer building blocks, they use a compound called melamine, which contains a ring of carbon and nitrogen atoms. However, in the new study, Strano and his colleagues came up with a new polymerization process that allows them to generate a two-dimensional sheet called a polyaramide. One reason for this was that if just one monomer rotates up or down, out of the plane of the growing sheet, the material will begin expanding in three dimensions and the sheet-like structure will be lost. However, many decades of work in this field led to the conclusion that it was impossible to create such sheets. Polymer scientists have long hypothesized that if polymers could be induced to grow into a two-dimensional sheet, they should form extremely strong, lightweight materials. ![]() ![]() Once formed, polymers can be shaped into three-dimensional objects, such as water bottles, using injection molding. These chains grow by adding new molecules onto their ends. Polymers, which include all plastics, consist of chains of building blocks called monomers. Credit: polymer film courtesy of the researchers Christine Daniloff, MIT Two dimensions The new material is a two-dimensional polymer that self-assembles into sheets and could be used as a lightweight, durable coating for car parts or cell phones, or as a building material for bridges or other structures.
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