The rubber that stops cracks in their tracks

Modern manufacturing needs stiff rubbers that can resist deformation for components like shock absorbers and drive belts. But the stiffer rubber becomes, the more likely it is to crack under stress, which is a tough problem for researchers; the point at which cracks begin to propagate under repeated stress, known as the fatigue threshold, has stayed the same for decades. But now a team of researchers have created a new type of rubber with a fatigue threshold 10 times higher than before, by entangling polymers in the rubber’s structure. Read the paper here https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06782-2 For more stories like these sign up for the Nature Briefing: An essential round-up of science news, opinion and analysis, free in your inbox every weekday: https://go.nature.com/3 ...