Tuesday, April 13, 2010

The White Tee That Can Stop a Speeding Bullet


Scientists from the University of South Carolina have developed a T-shirt. It's just any plain white tee, however.

This is a body armor.

It's made of the same material used in tank armor, by combining carbon in the shirt with the third-hardest material on Earth, boron. It's dipped into a boron solution, then heated in an oven at more than 1000ÂșC, which changes the cotton fibers into carbon fibers. The carbon fibers react with the boron solution and produce boron carbide - the same material used to make bulletproof plates in armored vests.

While the shirt (that's not in the photo) is stiffer than the usual white tee, it's still flexible enough to be worn as a t-shirt.

Professor Xiaodong Li says the material has potential in the production of aircraft and lightweight cars. It can also block all ultraviolet rays.


source

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