Caltech Engineers Create Tough New Material

Caltech engineers have developed a new material composed of multiple interconnected microscale knots that exhibit a tensile toughness far surpassing unknotted materials. The presence of knots in this new material significantly enhances its toughness by enabling it to absorb more energy and deform more before returning to its original shape without any damage. These new knotted materials may find applications in biomedicine as well as in aerospace applications due to their durability, possible biocompatibility, and extreme deformability.