2023-07-31 コロンビア大学
◆研究者たちは、DNAとガラスを用いた自己組織化により、非常に強い材料を作成しました。ガラスの薄い層でコーティングされたDNA骨格は、材料を強固にし、中空部分によって軽量化が実現されました。この組み合わせによる材料は、鋼の4倍の強度を持ちながら5分の1の密度で、これまでにない特性を持っています。
◆将来的には、軽量で強靭なボディアーマーや医療機器、高性能車両や航空機の開発に向けて新たな可能性を切り拓くことが期待されます。ただし、実用化にはさらなる研究が必要とされています。
＜関連情報＞
- https://www.engineering.columbia.edu/news/strong-as-glass
- https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-physical-science/fulltext/S2666-3864(23)00254-0
高強度・軽量ナノアーキテクトシリカ High-strength, lightweight nano-architected silica
Aaron Michelson,Tyler J. Flanagan,Seok-Woo Lee,Oleg Gang,Show footnotes
Cell Reports Physical Science Published:June 27, 2023
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrp.2023.101475
Highlights
•Fabrication of 3D silica nanostructures via DNA assembly and templating
•In situ micro-compression testing to examine the mechanical properties
•Nanostructures show a nearly theoretical compressive strength of 5 GPa
Summary
Continuous nanolattices are an emerging class of mechanical metamaterials that are highly attractive due to their superior strength-to-weight ratios, which originate from their spatial architectures and nanoscale-sized elements possessing near-theoretical strength. Rational design of frameworks remains challenging below 50 nm because of limited methods to arrange small elements into complex architectures. Here, we fabricate silica frameworks with ∼4- to 20-nm-thick elements using self-assembly and silica templating of DNA origami nanolattices and perform in situ micro-compression testing to examine the mechanical properties. We observe strong effects of lattice dimensions on yield strength (σy) and failure mode. Silica nanolattices are found to exhibit yield strengths higher than those of any known engineering materials with similar mass density. The robust coordination of the nanothin and strong silica elements leads to the combination of lightweight and high-strength framework materials offering an effective strategy for the fabrication of nanoarchitected materials with superior mechanical properties.
