Researchers build a DNA structure and coat it with glass, creating a very low density, very strong material

Originally published by Kim Krieger, University of Connecticu, on July 25, 2023

 

Materials scientists from UConn and Brookhaven National Laboratory built an exceptionally strong, lightweight material out of DNA and glass. The series of images at the top (A) show how the skeleton of the structure is assembled with DNA, then coated with glass. (B) shows a transmission electron microscope image of the material, and (C) shows a scanning electron microscope image of it, with the two right-hand panels zooming in to features at different scales. Credit: University of Connecticut

Materials that are both strong and lightweight could improve everything from cars to body armor. But usually, the two qualities are mutually exclusive. Now, University of Connecticut researchers and colleagues have developed an extraordinarily strong, lightweight material using two unlikely building blocks: DNA and glass.

"For the given density, our material is the strongest known," says Seok-Woo Lee, a materials scientist at UConn. Lee and colleagues from UConn, Columbia University, and Brookhaven National Lab reported the details on July 19 in Cell Reports Physical Science.

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