Road-turning technology turns invisible aircraft

Scientists have sought to develop a structural coating of millions of tiny, hollow carbon globes, tightly packed into a single hexagon, made of carbonized sugar, which can make the machine Invisible to the radar.

According to the Science Daily, these spheres will absorb all of the radiation in the Ka area (26.5 to 37 GHz or 7.5 to 10 mm), which is often used by the military for radar. In addition to aircraft and military equipment, anti-reflective coatings can also be used for many other surfaces, including computers and telephones.

Empty carbon spheres from the scanning electron microscope. (Photo: D. Bychanok).

Based on experimental results and models, the researchers found that the use of hollow carbon spheres with diameters larger than the spherical meshes in the eye and optimum thickness, arranged in hexagonal can achieve near-perfect microwave absorption. In the wild, these moths can absorb light to see better in the dark and avoid the bats that eat them.

In order to make the coating, scientists from the National Institute for Nuclear Research at the Belarusian National University wrapped the particles made of biopolymer with sucrose, a form of sugar that is easy to extract from sources. nature.

Then, the particles are burned by a special process, called thermolysis , which turns the resin inside of the gas into an outflow, simultaneously burning the sugar into carbon. The result is empty carbon spheres. Then continue to pyrolyze these spheres at 900 degrees Celsius, in a nitrogen atmosphere to create a glassy material .

Using coatings made in this way will help absorb about 95% of the 30GHz radiation, according to Dzmitry Bychanok, lead author of the study. The team's next plan is to develop materials from two dimensions to three-dimensional structures.