• HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
Sunday, March 7, 2021
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Chemistry

Liquid nanofoam: A game changer for future football helmets

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
October 28, 2020
in Chemistry
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

IMAGE

Credit: Weiyi Lu

A liquid nanofoam liner undergoing testing could prolong the safe use of football helmets, says a Michigan State University researcher.

When a helmet withstands an impact severe enough to cause a concussion to the player wearing it, the safety features of the helmet are compromised, rendering equipment unsafe for further use, said MSU’s Weiyi Lu, an MSU assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering.

Lu has been testing a liquid nanofoam material that could change that and the research was published on Oct. 13 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The material is full of tiny nanopores. “The pore diameters are between two and 200 nanometers and that creates a large amount of surface area,” Lu said. “The whole area of MSU’s Spartan Stadium could be folded up into one gram of nanofoam.”

Ordinarily, the material is rigid and adding liquid would fill the holes. To fix this, Lu and his team coated the nanopores with a hydrophobic or water repellant silicone layer made from an organic silyl chain that prevents liquid from being absorbed by the material. As a result, the saltwater liquid inside the nanofoam material becomes pressurized during an impact.

“When the pressure reaches the safety threshold, ions and water are forced into the nanopores making the material deformable for effective protection. In addition, the liquid-like material is pliable enough to form into any shape,” he said. “Helmets are pretty much one shape but the liquid nanofoam material can be made to fit a person’s specific head shape or profile.”

In early laboratory tests, Lu and his team compared an eighth-inch liquid nanofoam liner against the three-quarter-inch piece of solid foam traditionally used in helmets. Both materials were struck with a five-kilogram mass (the approximate weight of a human head) at three meters per second. Even though both materials were deformed by the impact, the liquid nanofoam recovered between the continuous impacts of the test and the solid foam did not.

“The liquid nanofoam outperformed the solid foam,” Lu said. “The nanofoam was able to mitigate continuous multiple impacts without damage; the results were identical from test one through test 10.”

A liquid nanofoam liner would be thinner and less bulky inside a helmet. And since the liner can withstand multiple high-impact forces, the liner would not need to be replaced after a high-impact collision unless the helmet shell was damaged.”A helmet that can be safely reused is a huge advantage,” he said. “We would love to see a liquid nanofoam liner in MSU football helmets in the future.”

Lu envisions multiple future applications of the liquid nanofoam material beyond football and military helmets. The material could also be used in passive safety devices such as automobile air bags and bumpers. The liquid nanofoam could even be used to protect people and buildings from earthquake vibrations.

The next stage of research will focus on more dynamic studies that will test faster and more intensive impacts such as the effects of a bomb blast, Lu said. “We want this material to help not just extend people’s lives but to improve their quality of life.”

###

Media Contact
Caroline Brooks
[email protected]

Original Source

https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2020/liquid-nanofoam-football-helmets

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2009310117

Tags: Chemistry/Physics/Materials SciencesMaterialsMental HealthNanotechnology/MicromachinesneurobiologyNeurochemistrySports MedicineTrauma/Injury
Share12Tweet7Share2ShareShareShare1

Related Posts

IMAGE

Study shows cactus pear as drought-tolerant crop for sustainable fuel and food

March 5, 2021
IMAGE

Christopher Tunnell wins NSF CAREER Award

March 5, 2021

Tantalizing signs of phase-change ‘turbulence’ in RHIC collisions

March 5, 2021

Species are our livelihoods

March 5, 2021

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

POPULAR NEWS

  • IMAGE

    Terahertz accelerates beyond 5G towards 6G

    668 shares
    Share 267 Tweet 167
  • People living with HIV face premature heart disease and barriers to care

    84 shares
    Share 34 Tweet 21
  • Global analysis suggests COVID-19 is seasonal

    39 shares
    Share 16 Tweet 10
  • HIV: an innovative therapeutic breakthrough to optimize the immune system

    36 shares
    Share 14 Tweet 9

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Tags

Climate ChangecancerMaterialsCell BiologyChemistry/Physics/Materials SciencesBiologyTechnology/Engineering/Computer ScienceInfectious/Emerging DiseasesPublic HealthEcology/EnvironmentMedicine/HealthGenetics

Recent Posts

  • “Magic sand” might help us understand the physics of granular matter
  • Study reveals how egg cells get so big
  • Survey identifies factors in reducing clinical research coordinator turnover
  • New ‘split-drive’ system puts scientists in the (gene) driver seat
  • Contact Us

© 2019 Bioengineer.org - Biotechnology news by Science Magazine - Scienmag.

No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

© 2019 Bioengineer.org - Biotechnology news by Science Magazine - Scienmag.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In