They are not ready to substitute Kevlar yet , but scientist are working on armored cotton fiber t - shirts that are light and flexible but take on the properties of boron carbide , the third hardest stuff on the planet , grant to researcher Xiaodong Li :
We were able to make large quantities of high - strength B4C nanowires using cotton plant T - shirt as both the guide and carbon source . ‘ cotton wool fibres have luck of minuscule pore which can be used to trammel the gunpowder . During the mental process the cotton fibre change to carbon copy fibre – which respond with the B powder , producing B4C. The boron - carbide nanowires we synthesized keep the same effectiveness and stiffness of the bulk atomic number 5 carbide but have topnotch - elasticity
The only side - upshot is that the t - shirts turn to black . Does this mean that we will have bullet - proof t - shirt shortly ? Unfortunately , no . The technology is not there yet , although — concord to other scientist — the approaching seems anticipate . I ’m certain the military would care to give their soldiers bullet - proof underpants . [ RSCviaPopSci ]
ScienceT - shirt
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