A new type of glue makes body armor 35% lighter while keeping it just as strong as heavy steel plates.
Engineers usually have to choose between a material being stiff or being tough, as one usually makes the other worse. This new photopolymerization strategy uses energy dissipation to get both at the same time. The resulting ballistic adhesive creates a composite that is significantly lighter than anything currently on the market. It allows for high-temperature resistance and extreme strength without the usual bulk. This discovery will lead to more comfortable and effective protection for soldiers and emergency responders.
Viscosity-driven rapid photopolymerization of UHMW-PMMA/SBS: synergistic energy dissipation for high-temperature resistant ballistic adhesives
SSRN · 6710691
The inherent brittleness of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) limits its application in high-velocity impact scenarios such as ballistic protection. Currently toughening methods often sacrifice stiffness or involve complex processes. To circumvent this fundamental stiffness-toughness trade-off, we report a highly scalable, viscosity-modulated in-situ photopolymerization strategy. By directly incorporating 20 wt% poly(styrene-block-butadiene-block-styrene) (SBS) into the methyl methacrylate (MMA)