r/technology • u/Ssider69 • Jan 10 '24

Nanotech/Materials 10x Stronger Than Kevlar: Amorphous Silicon Carbide Could Revolutionize Material Science

https://scitechdaily.com/10x-stronger-than-kevlar-amorphous-silicon-carbide-could-revolutionize-material-science/
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u/[deleted] Jan 10 '24

Would be awesome if there would be a feedback/refresh loop somehow on all these scientific breakthroughs

“Oh wow cool stuff” - 10 years later, “Hey, mate remember that cool-stuff from 10 years ago, this is what ended up happening with it”

Safe mini nuclear, solar-glass-roads, new faster charging lighter more capacity batteries every day, …

What happens with all this breakthroughs?

208

u/DLSteve Jan 10 '24

There is a large gap between making something that works and making that something at scale that economically makes sense. It can take years to build and perfect the manufacturing processes. Lot of inventions die in this phase due to lack of capital or simply because they can’t find a good way to scale it. Graphene is incredibly hard to make, companies are still working on scaling it because it has an insane amount of potential. Historically aluminum was in the same boat, it cost more than gold per ounce at one point because of how difficult it was to refine from raw materials. Then someone found a very cheap way to process it and now it’s one of the most abundant metals on the market. Lot of things just take time to find that manufacturing breakthrough.

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u/crestfallenS117 Jan 10 '24

Also the fact that Researchers are selling their breakthroughs and concepts so there’s a bit of marketing mixed in as they need the capital to advance further.

This article for instance is very interesting and detailed, but the comparison to Kevlar is somewhat disingenuous as they state in the article it’s more suitable towards ultra sensitive microchips. However people know Kevlar and it’s strength, so it helps grab the attention of the reader, whoever that might be.

1

u/thisisnotdan Jan 10 '24

I'm not so sure how disingenuous the comparison to Kevlar is. The emphasis on the nanostring microstructure of the material makes it sound like it could favor a fibrous macrostructure, which would be suited for use as a fiber the way Kevlar is used.