Lightweights at Caltech

A team of researchers from UC Irvine, HRL Laboratories and the California Institute of Technology have developed the world's lightest material - with a density of 0.9 mg/cc - about 100 times lighter than Styrofoam. The new material, which is 99.99% air, is formed of hollow nickel/phosphorus tubes arranged into a micro-lattice cellular architecture. Developed for the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency, the novel material could be used for battery electrodes and acoustic, vibration or shock energy absorption.