World's Lightest Material Is a Metal 100 Times Lighter Than Styrofoam, page 1

99.9% air? WOW, it should be cheap then... right?

This is so incredibly cool. Well done to those guys involved with it.

The article talks about compression recovery ability and being used for shock absorption, so I guess it's not rigid. More like a very light foam, but I can be wrong.

A demonstration of the ultra-light, low-density material described by Schaedler et al. recovering from compression, narrated by Brandon Bryn of the Science press package team. Read more at Chemistry World magazine:

A team of researchers from UC Irvine, HRL Laboratories and the California Institute of Technology have developed the world's lightest material -- with a density of 0.9 mg/cc -- about one hundred times lighter than Styrofoam™.

New metal - which is 99.9 percent air - is so light that it can sit atop dandelion fluff without damaging it. (Credit: Dan Little, HRL Laboratories LLC)

Developed for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the novel material could be used for battery electrodes and acoustic, vibration or shock energy absorption. William Carter, manager of the architected materials group at HRL, compared the new material to larger, more familiar edifices: "Modern buildings, exemplified by the Eiffel Tower or the Golden Gate Bridge, are incredibly light and weight-efficient by virtue of their architecture. We are revolutionizing lightweight materials by bringing this concept to the nano and micro scales."

Source

So what molecules where they using or is this structure applicable to different basis materials? They just state that this is metal.

Nice.

PS: Did not find it here so, sorry if this was posted before.

reply to post by RUSSO

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Nothing weighs less.

reply to post by Ophiuchus 13

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Yes, that Roswell weather balloon material was reported to be very light and very strong (100X stronger than steel perhaps?) and was reported to have the ability to return to it's original shape when a thin sheet of it was screwed up into a ball. (returning to it's former shape after compression is also mentioned in this article)..so yeah, i'd say it's description is very like that of the Roswell..ah..weather balloon.



So this metal lattice is the next step up from Aerogel then? Aerogel was formally touted as the lightest and strongest material on Earth, (silica based) and was recently used as a 'capture matrix' in the 'stardust' spacecraft to catch meteoric dust particles and return them to Earth.

Awesome stuff..

Here's another article on the material

news.cnet.com

The research was conducted for the United States' Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

I am no Sci Tech authority but this seems to be a game changer for a wide variety of applications?

reply to post by JacKatMtn

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I am no Sci Tech authority but this seems to be a game changer for a wide variety of applications?

I agree with you JacKatMtn. Lets see where this will gonna lead us. It seems we are becoming some of our scientific fictions.

And, if DARPA is in the game Im sure some of the Sci Tech should be "scary" too.

Ps. Thanks for your help and everything.

reply to post by Ophiuchus 13

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Kind of makes you think could the Roswell weather balloon material of been this type of material. good find

If I remember right, the story was that material was some how "inteligent". Like if could sense the touch.

Originally posted by spikey
reply to post by Ophiuchus 13

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Yes, that Roswell weather balloon material was reported to be very light and very strong (100X stronger than steel perhaps?) and was reported to have the ability to return to it's original shape when a thin sheet of it was screwed up into a ball. (returning to it's former shape after compression is also mentioned in this article)..so yeah, i'd say it's description is very like that of the Roswell..ah..weather balloon.



So this metal lattice is the next step up from Aerogel then? Aerogel was formally touted as the lightest and strongest material on Earth, (silica based) and was recently used as a 'capture matrix' in the 'stardust' spacecraft to catch meteoric dust particles and return them to Earth.

edit on 18/11/2011 by spikey because: Added info

1 more reason for disclosure =P

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