New glue thinner than a human hair

[jetsamjetsam]

Story Highlights• New glue 100,000 times thinner than a human hair
• Nanoglue bonds materials that don't normally stick together
• Glue gets stronger when heated
• The cost: $35 per 100 grams

CHICAGO, Illinois (Reuters) -- A cheap glue that gets stronger at high temperatures might be useful around the house, but make it 100,000 times thinner than a human hair and you have nanoglue, a sticky substance that could help make extremely tiny computer chips, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.

Developed by researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, nanoglue is made from ultrathin materials that are already commercially available.

"It is really mind-boggling to think about a single layer of molecules improving the adhesion of something," said materials science researcher Ganapathiraman Ramanath, whose work appears in the journal Nature.

"Our work shows the possibility of having organic-based nanolayers that are about a 1,000 times thinner than the thinnest organic-based glues," he said.

Similar toughness has been shown using layers as thin as one-millionth of a meter, but never before with a thickness of only one nanometer -- which is just one billionth of a meter.

"This is a single layer of molecules that are organized like soldiers," Ramanath said in a telephone interview. The glue chain lines up in very orderly fashion all on its own.

"Nature does most of it for you," Ramanath said. "You just have to put the right thing on the top and the right thing on the bottom and it will work."

The glue has a backbone of carbon molecules. On one end of the chain is silica and oxygen and on the other is sulfur. These different end molecules act as hooks that bind with other surfaces.

Ramanath topped off the chain with a thin layer of copper that acts as a protective coating that helps keep the molecules intact.

But when heated to 750 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, the copper and silica formed a strong chemical bond and it became much stronger -- increasing its stickiness by five to seven times.

"When you heat it, it becomes a better glue," he said. "That was something we hadn't bargained for."

He said the glue could be used as an inexpensive way to connect any two materials that do not bond well.

And the cost -- at $35 per 100 grams -- would make it a fairly cheap commercial option, he said.

Ramanath and his team are seeking a patent for the material, which he thinks could be used in the development of chips used in any type of microelectronic device.

[Shurt]

Why is this here? Moving...

[camaz0tz]

ud think itd be obvious what they use it for...but anyway as technology gets smaller and smaller they cant be using traditional methods of holding it together cuz well thats partially what makes it big...the thinner they can get glue the thinner smaller more technologically advanced shit gets

speaking of which...who decided smaller/thinner=more advanced...tbh i lose my cell phone in my room more than i actually use it -_- fucking thing everytime i put it down i cant find it lol gimme one of those cell phones from the 80's the huge ass ones and id be happy

[BabyBash]

or they could make a alarm on your phone like an alarm for the car

[RiseAgainst_]

OMG BABYBASH U R SO SMART ;O American Inventor is ur place


An alarm for cellphones is gg.. it would be easier to just call ur cellphone but sometimes u dont have ppl to call u or a thief turns off the cellphone

[PlayerofRogueC0la]

lmfao thats crazy nano meter or w/e ,, soo small how is that possible for glue to be so small? wow

[camaz0tz]

OMG BABYBASH U R SO SMART ;O American Inventor is ur place
An alarm for cellphones is gg.. it would be easier to just call ur cellphone but sometimes u dont have ppl to call u or a thief turns off the cellphone[/b]

its more of a problem when ur phone disappears into the mess known as ur bed and gets muffled and u cant hear the phone even if u wanted to

[DragonFire]

ud think itd be obvious what they use it for...but anyway as technology gets smaller and smaller they cant be using traditional methods of holding it together cuz well thats partially what makes it big...the thinner they can get glue the thinner smaller more technologically advanced shit gets

speaking of which...who decided smaller/thinner=more advanced...tbh i lose my cell phone in my room more than i actually use it -_- fucking thing everytime i put it down i cant find it lol gimme one of those cell phones from the 80's the huge ass ones and id be happy [/b]

Clean your room!

[aligator]

i work on machines which can "cut" any materials with an accuracy of 0.0001 mm
that accuracy is needed for medical technology. esp if some1 lost a leg you make one which "should" work as good as the real (which is not possible, since the human body is a PERFECT working machine, so you cant build "parts" for a human that do the same job)
one of the machines is called something like "CNC-machine" (u write the program, simulate, and try a prototype. when the machine is working you are just there stop the machine if something is incorrect or dangerous for u or the machine)
0.0001mm.. if thats to small to imagine for ppl out there:
a Micrometer can be incorrect between 0.01mm-0.03mm if the contacts are NOT CLEAN! :S

am i cool now?

[Timaster]

"a sticky substance that could help make extremely tiny computer chips, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday."

[Dro]

or they could make a alarm on your phone like an alarm for the car[/b]

You should be happy about this glue, finally u can glue your penis to whatever you want.

[phantomlink]

I dont really see how or why someone would want to make something 1000 times thinner then human hair, you cant even see it without any tools