14 DAY TRIAL // A group of experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology announce the development of a new type of nanocomposite material. The scientists believe that the new nanoscale composite will be able to improve scratch resistance several times over.
This technology could have significant implications for portable consumer electronics such as tablet computers, laptops, smartphones and mp3 players. All these devices feature LCD displays that can easily be scratched, requiring costly maintenance later on.
By applying the new nanocomposite coating on the displays, the MIT group believes that this problem may be eliminated once and for all. The materials are based on advanced polymers that were developed at the Institute in recent years.
What the team plans to achieve is the ability to create thin coatings made of nanoparticles that could be applied directly atop the transparent plastics used to protect electronic displays at this point.
This would contribute to making the technology backwards-compatible, meaning that consumers will not have to buy a new product in order to benefit from improved scratch resistance. At the same time, this will allow the company marketing the protective layer to capitalize on an extended market.
The glass substitute known as poly(methyl methacrylate) – PMMA or acrylic – was used as a basis for the new materials. In general, this chemical is sold under the trademark names of Plexiglas of Lucite.
Creating a polymer-particle nanocomposite from PMMA is very simple. All experts have to do is add silica nanoparticles to the mix. The latter change the chemical and physical properties of the acrylic material to a considerable extent, enabling new applications.
The achievement that the MIT group “unlocked” was taking this manufacturing technique and translating it into a coating. When put into a thin film, silica nanoparticles have the tendency to clump together, since they do not readily mingle with PMMA.
But the study group, led by MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering postdoctoral researcher Meng Qu and MIT associate professor of materials science and engineering Krystyn Van Vliet, managed to find a way around this, by treating the silica particles with other chemicals.
In a paper published in the July issue of the journal Soft Matter, the group explains that this enabled them to change the surface chemistry the nanoparticles displayed, allowing them to be put into thin film form.