No tangled web
Greener polymers are stronger, too
BULLETPROOF jackets, yacht sails and tow lines are made of fabrics and ropes designed to withstand enormous force. Those fabrics and ropes are, in turn, woven or twisted from fibres made of artificial polymers, such as polyethylene, specially prepared in ways that make them strong.
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “No tangled web”
From the December 19th 2015 edition
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