Unbreakable glass inspired by seashells

Scientists develop stronger and tougher glass, inspired by the inner layer of mollusk shells. Instead of shattering upon impact, the new material has the resiliency of plastic and could be used to improve cell phone screens in the future, among other applications.

While techniques like tempering and laminating can help reinforce glass, they are costly and no longer work once the surface is damaged. Until now there were trade-offs between high strength, toughness, and transparency.

The scientists took the architecture of nacre and replicated it with layers of glass flakes and acrylic, yielding an exceptionally strong yet opaque material that can be produced easily and inexpensively.

They then went a step further to make the composite optically transparent. By tuning the refractive index of the acrylic, they made it seamlessly blend with the glass to make a truly transparent composite.

The new material is five times stronger than the normal glass.

Amazingly, nacre has the rigidity of a stiff material and durability of a soft material, giving it the best of both worlds. It's made of stiff pieces of chalk-like matter that are layered with soft proteins that are highly elastic. This structure produces exceptional strength, making it 3000 times tougher than the materials that compose it.

As next steps they plan to improve it by incorporating smart technology allowing the glass to change its properties, such as colour, mechanics, and conductivity.