Ground-breaking research work by Professor Joseph N. Grima and co-workers Daphne Attard, Ruben Gatt, and Richard N. Cassar from the Department of Chemistry of the University of Malta has been featured on the front cover of the July 2009 issue of the prestigious journal Advanced Engineering Materials.
This journal is the membership journal of three major European materials' societies: the German Materials Society (DGM), the French Materials Society (SF2M) and the Swiss Materials Federation (SVMT). It enjoys high standing within the international scientific community and is widely considered as a premier source for new developments in the field of materials engineering and processing technology.
The Maltese researchers have developed a new route for the manufacturing of high value-added auxetic foams from ordinary, cheaply available, conventional foam. These auxetic foams exhibit the unusual property of getting fatter when stretched rather than thinner.
Auxetic foams, such as the one developed by the University of Malta team, have various superior beneficial properties when compared to ordinary foams, the university said. For example, they are harder to indent on impact, providing extra support during sudden collisions. This makes them especially suitable to use in car seats and protective equipment such as knee, elbow pads, crash helmets etc. as well as for packaging purposes.
They also show a natural tendency to adopt a dome shape conformation allowing them to fit to curvatures in a more versatile way.
Thus auxetic foams used for protective purposes are not only better than conventional ones in terms of comfort, but more importantly, in terms of the added protection they can offer but even.
"Such added protection could make the difference between life and death should one be involved in a traffic accident" said Professor Grima.
"Anyone who has been involved in automotive or motorcycle accidents will easily appreciate the need for materials such as ours which can help minimise the trauma that results following sudden impacts."
Prime Minister Gonzi congratulated the researchers when they called at the Auberge de Castille this afternoon.
He said that this was an example of Malta's potential to become a centre of excellence based on a knowledge economy. He added that the government was investing in a number of areas and schemes to facilitate research and innovation. It wanted to address research at all levels and the Malta Government Support Scheme was a step in this direction with an increasing number of Maltese students pursuing post-graduate studies.
Investment in research facilities co-funded by the European Union, were also taking place to ensure that researches are equipped with the best technologies.
The Prime Minister also welcomed the collaboration with industry in this research project and stressed that these collaborations are important for Malta to reach its aims and the schemes by the Malta Council of Science and Technology are key to enhancing such synergies.
http://home.um.edu.mt/auxetic/press/