TLDR Tech / Hardware
NC State's new thin film is 10,000x stiffer than silicone, yet insulates 5x better
Material science has long treated stiffness and heat insulation as a trade-off: stiff materials like metal conduct heat fast, while soft ones like rubber trap it. NC State researchers broke that link with a non-porous thin film built from 2D hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites, arranging alternating organic and inorganic layers into precise crystalline structures and swapping standard carbon chains for custom-tailored benzene rings to trap heat vibrations without sacrificing structural rigidity.
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