Yue Jessica Wang from the University of California, USA, who led the project, said: "When I slowly mix cornstarch and water, the spoon moves easily. But when you lift the spoon and try to put it back into the mixture, it won't go back in. It's like stabbing a hard surface."
Wang said that based on this, they developed a material that hardens as it is impacted and has conductive properties.
For this, the researchers first prepared an aqueous solution of 4 different polymers, then spread this solution on a thin layer and dried it.
In experiments with the solid polymer layer, it was observed that the material became harder as it was impacted.
Di Wu, who took part in the research, said that they used two positively and two negatively charged polymer types in the mixture, and that the material became harder due to the interaction between them.
Comparing this interaction to meatballs and spaghetti, the academic said, "Positively charged molecules gather into meatball-like microstructures because they do not like water." The researcher said that these meatball-like structures can absorb the energy of impacts without disintegrating.
Wang said the material could be used in smartwatches in the future, as well as in sensors used in the monitoring of cardiovascular diseases and in different clothes.
