日本發明極薄堅硬透明原材料

Last month on 22.11.2011 the Yomiuri News on-line reported the following:
　カニやエビの殻から、折ったり丸めたり自在にできる透明で極めて薄い膜状の素材を作ることに、京都大生存圏研究所の矢野浩之教授らが成功した。
　極薄のディスプレーの表面材料を実現できる技術で、近く英国の材料専門誌に発表する。
　カニなど甲殻類の殻は、高分子繊維・キチンが塊のように集まり、それをたんぱく質と炭酸カルシウムががっちり固めているため、強いのが特長だ。
　矢野教授は、ズワイガニの甲羅から、化学処理でたんぱく質などを除去し、キチンだけに加工。この後、たんぱく質が抜けた隙間に透明樹脂を浸透させると、ガラス細工のように透明な甲羅ができた。
　この甲羅の粉末から、厚さ１００～２００マイクロ・メートルの透明膜を作製。紙のように軟らかいうえ、熱にも強く、約２００度まで透明のままという。
　矢野教授は「ガラスに代わる素材が簡単にできた。生物が何億年もかけてつくった仕組みを借り、新材料の開発に応用できることを示せた」と話している。
(試譯文)
Professor Hiroyuki Yano and others of the Kyoto University Survival Circle Research Institute had succeeded, from the shell of crabs or shrimps, in making a transparent and very thin membrane material which could be freely cruved and folded.
This technology, that could enable the realization of an ultra-thin surface material, would be announced to a British material technical magazine soon.
In the shell of the crustacean such as a crab, Chitin polymer fibre gathered like a sheet, when it was hardened firmly with protein and calcium carbonate, hardness became the feature.
From the shell of a snow crab, Professor Yano removed protein etc. by a chemical treatment, only the Chitin was processed. Then the space where protein had been removed was filled up with transparent resin that would permeate the crevice. A glass like transparent shell was made. From the powder of this shell, a 100-200-micrometer thick transparent film was produced.
It was soft like paper, and also it was said that even with a strong heat of up to about 200 degrees the material was still transparent.
Professor Yano said that "the material that could replace glass was made easily. The structure of the living thing which had come to this form after hundreds of millions of years was borrowed, and it was able to show that the development of new materials could have practical use."

This new material probably will revolutionize the production of TV display screen and computer monitor etc.