World's Lightest Metal

By Nick S.

Lightweight metals are becoming increasingly important to the automobile industry, as well as many other industries. With electrification becoming more widespread in the automobile and motorcycle industries, the issue of weight is at the forefront of every manufacturer's mind as they work to increase efficiency while extending the range of their vehicles. This is the very reason why everyone is talking about the new "microlattice".

Microlattice is the lightest metallic structure ever created, and is ideally suited for projects such as future airplane designs, automobiles and other vehicles. The metal can be compressed up to 50% while bouncing back perfectly into it's original shape. At 99.99% air, it's light enough to balance on top of a dandelion, as shown below.

Graphene - another lightweight material hailed as the thinnest, strongest and most conductive material ever - has also been proposed as a material that can improve everything from condoms to contact lenses. 

How Is It Made?

The lattice structure is generated by beaming UV light into light sensitive resin, which then hardens. The structure is then coated with a thin metal film and the resin is dissolved. These interconnecting hollow tubes, whose outer walls measure just 1/1000th the width of a human hair, form the "3D open-cellular polymer structure" that is 100 times lighter than styrofoam peanuts. The design of this material is comparable to the way your bones are made; mostly hollow with a rigid frame-like structure.

Microlattice was originally developed by HRL Laboratories in California in partnership with Caltech and the University of California Irvine, and was featured on Popular Mechanic's list of top 10 world-changing innovations in 2012. After seeing the obvious benefits that the newly-designed material would have on planes, Boeing started working in partnership with HRL to develop the material further.

Sources

Tucker, Emma. "Microlattice Metal Is "world's Lightest Material" Says Boeing."Dezeen Microlattice Metal Is Worlds Lightest Material Says Boeing Comments. 15 Oct. 2015. Web. 14 Feb. 2016.

     Gallina, Eric. "Boeing Develops World’s Lightest Metal." Form Trends. 21 Oct. 2105. Web. 14 Feb. 2016.

Image

 http://www.designboom.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/boeing-mircolattice-lightweight-material-designboom-01-818x627.jpg