0:00:06 > 0:00:08From the simplest stuff, rock, sand and clay,
0:00:08 > 0:00:13we've created vast cities that have changed the face of the planet.
0:00:18 > 0:00:24By manipulating metals we've conquered land, sea and air.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27But I think the material that's perhaps our greatest achievement
0:00:27 > 0:00:31is something entirely artificial, invented by us,
0:00:31 > 0:00:34and created in the lab.
0:00:34 > 0:00:36Plastic.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39It's not just technologically marvellous stuff.
0:00:39 > 0:00:41It's fundamentally changed how we live.
0:00:41 > 0:00:43It's allowed us to be modern.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46My name is Mark Miodownik
0:00:46 > 0:00:50and I'm fascinated by the stuff that makes our modern world.
0:00:50 > 0:00:52- Woah!- Yeah.- Wow!
0:00:54 > 0:00:57In this programme, I'm going to explore how we turned our backs
0:00:57 > 0:01:02on the raw materials of nature and began to design and create our own.
0:01:02 > 0:01:08Plastic - better, cheaper, and entirely man-made.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11We've created more new materials in the last 100 years
0:01:11 > 0:01:15than in the rest of history, and what's really exciting about that
0:01:15 > 0:01:17is that it's just the beginning.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20We're on the verge of creating a new generation of materials
0:01:20 > 0:01:23more ambitious than ever before.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26And that's because we are coming full circle
0:01:26 > 0:01:30and making new materials that are completely artificial,
0:01:30 > 0:01:34but which take their inspiration from the natural world.
0:01:52 > 0:01:56This is bio-degradable polymer. It's a plastic.
0:01:56 > 0:01:57And in the future,
0:01:57 > 0:02:00most of us will have some of it implanted in our bodies.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07It's designed to help the human body rebuild itself,
0:02:07 > 0:02:09allowing us to heal faster and better.
0:02:10 > 0:02:14And when its job is done, the plastic dissolves and disappears.
0:02:14 > 0:02:16You're looking at the future,
0:02:16 > 0:02:18where material science meets medical science.
0:02:18 > 0:02:22And plastics are at the heart of that research.
0:02:33 > 0:02:35This shows how far we've come with plastic,
0:02:35 > 0:02:39this designer material that we created.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41So how did we get here?
0:02:41 > 0:02:43Well, this most artificial of substances began life
0:02:43 > 0:02:48in the industrial revolution when man's progress seemed unstoppable,
0:02:48 > 0:02:51and we looked at nature's materials and thought,
0:02:51 > 0:02:53"Hmm. We can do better."
0:03:01 > 0:03:06The story began in 1834, in a prison in Philadelphia
0:03:06 > 0:03:09with one inmate who saw the potential
0:03:09 > 0:03:11of a newly imported natural material.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15His name was Charles Goodyear,
0:03:15 > 0:03:18and he'd been locked up for not paying his debts.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21But Goodyear wasn't making his supper,
0:03:21 > 0:03:24he was cooking up something entirely different.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33Goodyear was obsessed with this stuff, natural rubber.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36It was the miracle substance of the early 19th century
0:03:36 > 0:03:38because it had some very strange properties.
0:03:38 > 0:03:42It was stretchy but it was also waterproof.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45And this meant that it seemed to have huge potential to make things
0:03:45 > 0:03:48like raincoats, tyres and wellies.
0:03:48 > 0:03:52If, however, it wasn't for one thing.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56This is a ball of natural rubber
0:03:57 > 0:03:59and you can see that at room temperature
0:03:59 > 0:04:00it's pretty lively stuff.
0:04:02 > 0:04:04But if you change the temperature,
0:04:04 > 0:04:07well then, the material changes its behaviour.
0:04:07 > 0:04:11So look, I've got some different types of temperature here.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13I've got a ball that's been cooled down.
0:04:13 > 0:04:15And here it is.
0:04:15 > 0:04:17And let's see how that behaves.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22It's quite ridiculously dead, inert.
0:04:22 > 0:04:26None of that springiness. None of that liveliness is left.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28And what about the hot one?
0:04:31 > 0:04:34It's funny, you only have to heat it up a little bit
0:04:34 > 0:04:37and it becomes really pongy and also sticky.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41Almost disgusting. It's a very unpleasant material to be around.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44In Goodyear's day, people noticed this
0:04:44 > 0:04:46and products made out of natural rubber
0:04:46 > 0:04:49were pretty hopeless in the hot or the cold weather.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53Shops that sold them, well, they were inundated with complaints.
0:04:53 > 0:04:57So this is the problem that Goodyear was trying to solve.
0:04:59 > 0:05:03Goodyear was determined to find the magic ingredients
0:05:03 > 0:05:08that would improve rubber and transform it into a material
0:05:08 > 0:05:12that didn't melt in the heat or go hard in the cold.
0:05:12 > 0:05:17He tried mixing rubber with the most bizarre substances imaginable,
0:05:17 > 0:05:21from black ink to witch hazel to chicken soup!
0:05:21 > 0:05:25But nothing seemed to work.
0:05:31 > 0:05:33But his luck was to change.
0:05:38 > 0:05:43In 1839, having been bailed out of debtor's prison,
0:05:43 > 0:05:48Goodyear found himself at a small rubber company in Massachusetts.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52Dr Stuart Cook is director of research
0:05:52 > 0:05:56at the Malaysian Rubber Board's UK research centre
0:05:56 > 0:05:59and is going to help us recreate what Goodyear did.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04That counts as one of the weirdest things I've ever seen.
0:06:04 > 0:06:09Goodyear was still trying anything he could lay his hands on.
0:06:09 > 0:06:10And this time,
0:06:10 > 0:06:14he tried adding two substances to the natural rubber,
0:06:14 > 0:06:16yellow sulphur and white lead,
0:06:16 > 0:06:20which was commonly used as a pigment.
0:06:21 > 0:06:25Using the factory's mill, these were ground into the natural rubber
0:06:25 > 0:06:27until they were both thoroughly mixed in.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31So you can see now the rubber compound
0:06:31 > 0:06:33has changed quite dramatically.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37Yes. It's looking extremely voluptuous, actually.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39- It's got this creaminess about it.- Yes.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45So far, there were no signs that Goodyear was any closer
0:06:45 > 0:06:49to reaching his goal of improving on natural rubber.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55The rubber compound that came out of the mill
0:06:55 > 0:06:58appeared no better than previous attempts.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01Stuart, I have to say it is sticky.
0:07:01 > 0:07:03I mean, he must have been pretty disappointed
0:07:03 > 0:07:07because he's trying to solve the stickiness problem, and it's sticky.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09The crucial thing is what happened next.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13Whether by mistake or not,
0:07:13 > 0:07:16Goodyear left the rubber compound lying on a hot stove.
0:07:16 > 0:07:21Natural rubber would have melted into a gooey mess,
0:07:21 > 0:07:25but Goodyear's rubber compound didn't do this.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28The combination of sulphur, white lead and heat
0:07:28 > 0:07:32had transformed the rubber into a very different material.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38That is absolutely extraordinary. What an amazing material.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43So Goodyear, when he referred to this,
0:07:43 > 0:07:46said it had the appearance of looking charred.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49It's better than charred, I think he was under-estimating that!
0:07:49 > 0:07:52And it's not sticky.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57Cured, as Goodyear said.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06This is what the surface of natural rubber looks like
0:08:06 > 0:08:09magnified over 10,000 times.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12It's an irregular structure with stretched-out fibres
0:08:12 > 0:08:15interspersed with tiny air pockets.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20By a process which became known as vulcanisation,
0:08:20 > 0:08:25Goodyear had transformed this to make it useful to man.
0:08:25 > 0:08:30The key to that change is what happens inside the rubber.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38Natural rubber is made up of lots of long strands.
0:08:38 > 0:08:42Each one, a single molecule made of atoms.
0:08:44 > 0:08:48During vulcanisation, the sulphur creates links between the molecules.
0:08:48 > 0:08:50This is what makes rubber tougher
0:08:50 > 0:08:54and able to withstand hot or cold temperatures.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01So he must have been a very happy man?
0:09:01 > 0:09:05I think he realised the importance of this chance discovery.
0:09:06 > 0:09:10But it took him then many years to convince the rest of the world.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14But this was really the start of the rubber industry as we know it.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22Goodyear's breakthrough led to an explosion in rubber products.
0:09:25 > 0:09:30Wellies, tyres, waterproofs,
0:09:30 > 0:09:32which worked whatever the weather.
0:09:36 > 0:09:40Across the world, production rocketed by more than a hundredfold.
0:09:40 > 0:09:45And everywhere, consumers bought rubber, in its new vulcanised form.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54The significance of Goodyear's discovery went far beyond rubber.
0:09:54 > 0:09:56What he showed was the power of chemistry
0:09:56 > 0:09:59to transform raw materials into something new.
0:09:59 > 0:10:01What he'd discovered was still called rubber
0:10:01 > 0:10:03but it didn't occur naturally.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05It was man-made.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12Now our ambitions became even greater.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15As the Industrial Revolution swept across the globe,
0:10:15 > 0:10:18it brought an insatiable demand for new materials.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21Building on our success with rubber,
0:10:21 > 0:10:24now wherever nature was found wanting,
0:10:24 > 0:10:26we began to attempt to better it
0:10:26 > 0:10:29by creating new artificial substances of our own design.
0:10:38 > 0:10:40That quest would be taken up
0:10:40 > 0:10:44in the smoky drinking saloons of 19th century America,
0:10:44 > 0:10:47with a competition announced in a newspaper.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52On offer was a reward of 10,000
0:10:52 > 0:10:54to the person who could find a replacement material
0:10:54 > 0:10:58for the expensive ivory used in making billiard balls.
0:10:58 > 0:10:59It was 1865.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01The American Civil War was over
0:11:01 > 0:11:03and there was renewed interest in this game.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06Billiards was getting more and more popular.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09And so ivory was getting more and more expensive.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14The race was on to find something to replace ivory.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19After the newspaper ad, suggestions came flooding in
0:11:19 > 0:11:23about using glass, porcelain, metal, even rubber!
0:11:23 > 0:11:25But nothing worked.
0:11:25 > 0:11:29The truth is that ivory is a really good fit for billiards.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31It's hard so it doesn't scratch
0:11:31 > 0:11:35and it's elastic so it bounces off other balls.
0:11:35 > 0:11:37It can be coloured
0:11:37 > 0:11:40and also it can be machined into a perfectly round ball.
0:11:40 > 0:11:42Nothing else was up to the job.
0:11:42 > 0:11:45So it seemed that the replacement for ivory
0:11:45 > 0:11:47would have to be something completely new.
0:11:51 > 0:11:56The big bucks reward caught the attention of John Wesley Hyatt.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01Hyatt fancied himself as a bit of an inventor,
0:12:01 > 0:12:03and reckoned he could make an artificial billiard ball
0:12:03 > 0:12:05as good as ivory.
0:12:05 > 0:12:07Little did he realise,
0:12:07 > 0:12:11this would lead him to create something far more significant,
0:12:11 > 0:12:14the world's first commercial plastic.
0:12:14 > 0:12:18But the truth is that Hyatt would have gotten nowhere
0:12:18 > 0:12:21if it hadn't been for a lucky find.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28Hyatt noticed a spilt bottle of this stuff, collodion, in his cupboard.
0:12:28 > 0:12:32Now, Hyatt was a printer and he used collodion to protect his hands
0:12:32 > 0:12:35from the heat of the printing press.
0:12:35 > 0:12:40But where it had spilt, he noticed it had created a hard, thin film
0:12:40 > 0:12:45and it was transparent and it felt a little bit like ivory.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48Had he found what he'd been looking for?
0:12:54 > 0:12:57Hyatt's idea was to use collodion that he'd in made different colours
0:12:57 > 0:13:00as an outer coating for wooden billiard balls
0:13:00 > 0:13:01to give them an ivory finish.
0:13:04 > 0:13:06I'm going to have a go at making
0:13:06 > 0:13:08Hyatt's collodion-coated billiard balls
0:13:08 > 0:13:11with the help of Steve Rannard,
0:13:11 > 0:13:15Professor of Chemistry at the University of Liverpool.
0:13:15 > 0:13:21..and then it's a simple process of just taking the dyed collodion
0:13:22 > 0:13:26and dip so it goes completely under the surface.
0:13:28 > 0:13:30That is really pleasing.
0:13:30 > 0:13:35That's like one of the nicest toffee apples I've ever made,
0:13:35 > 0:13:37although it's clearly a billiard ball.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40Well, the idea that Hyatt had, of course,
0:13:40 > 0:13:44was to use a core of something that you could readily form,
0:13:44 > 0:13:46that you could make very easily,
0:13:46 > 0:13:50and then slowly build up layers and layers of collodion
0:13:50 > 0:13:53to make it ivory-like on the outside
0:13:53 > 0:13:55and hopefully give all the properties of ivory
0:13:55 > 0:13:59that you'd get from a billiard ball of the time.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01So you can see with this one,
0:14:01 > 0:14:06it could do with just another dip to give that shiny outer coat.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11I must say, it's slightly addictive.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14Although I'm doing nothing of skill at all.
0:14:14 > 0:14:18The interesting thing is what Hyatt must have felt at this point,
0:14:18 > 0:14:20because the outer shine of the ball
0:14:20 > 0:14:23is just like the object he was trying to make.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27It's almost like an ivory coating on the outside of the ball.
0:14:27 > 0:14:29And there you have it,
0:14:29 > 0:14:36your artificial billiard ball coated with collodion and ready for action!
0:14:38 > 0:14:42Hyatt thought he'd cracked it,
0:14:42 > 0:14:45a new material to replace natural ivory.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48But when he sent his billiard balls off for testing,
0:14:48 > 0:14:51he was in for a nasty shock.
0:14:52 > 0:14:54They're nice looking balls you've made, Steve.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57I have to say, they look the part.
0:14:57 > 0:14:59They do.
0:14:59 > 0:15:03But they do feel a bit light and they haven't got the right sound.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06They feel a bit dull, don't they?
0:15:06 > 0:15:08But there was a much more serious issue.
0:15:14 > 0:15:16Oh, wow.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20That is not what you want a billiard ball to do!
0:15:20 > 0:15:23The collodion was highly flammable.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26One saloon keeper wrote to Hyatt complaining that
0:15:26 > 0:15:31during lively games of billiards, the balls actually exploded,
0:15:31 > 0:15:34prompting everybody to draw their guns.
0:15:35 > 0:15:39Hyatt's billiard balls had been a complete disaster.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42It was a salutary lesson on how difficult it was going to be
0:15:42 > 0:15:44to improve on nature.
0:15:47 > 0:15:52But Hyatt hadn't given up hope and continued his efforts
0:15:52 > 0:15:54to make a viable man-made replacement for ivory.
0:15:54 > 0:15:58He had no idea that his work would ultimately have
0:15:58 > 0:16:03much wider ramifications and bring luxury to the masses.
0:16:03 > 0:16:09This time, he tried adding a different ingredient to collodion,
0:16:09 > 0:16:11something called camphor.
0:16:14 > 0:16:16Oh! That is very...
0:16:16 > 0:16:18It's got a distinctive smell.
0:16:18 > 0:16:22If anybody's got a grandmother who used to store clothes in mothballs,
0:16:22 > 0:16:25- they'll know exactly what that smell is.- Of course. All right.
0:16:27 > 0:16:29Adding camphor to collodion
0:16:29 > 0:16:33was to prove to be Hyatt's master stroke.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35When he dried out his solution,
0:16:35 > 0:16:39he found he'd created a white substance.
0:16:39 > 0:16:40He named it celluloid.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44And it would turn out to be the world's first practical plastic.
0:16:45 > 0:16:50It's really hard. Described by Hyatt as almost feeling like bone.
0:16:50 > 0:16:54And what Hyatt found was that if you add it into hot water,
0:16:54 > 0:16:59once it came out of the heat it was really mouldable,
0:16:59 > 0:17:02really flexible and he could shape into different shapes.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05Yes, wow. That's a completely different material!
0:17:07 > 0:17:11And it was the presence of camphor that allowed him to do that.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14Hyatt wasted no time in experimenting
0:17:14 > 0:17:16with his newly-created celluloid.
0:17:16 > 0:17:20Some of the first objects he attempted to make were dentures,
0:17:20 > 0:17:22which at that time were extremely pricey.
0:17:26 > 0:17:30While the material is in the mould, it'll cool down,
0:17:30 > 0:17:33and hopefully it'll adopt the shape of the teeth.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36So if we just undo them and take the mould out.
0:17:36 > 0:17:41It's all a matter of removing the top.
0:17:41 > 0:17:42Drum roll!
0:17:42 > 0:17:46And if we pull those out. There we have...
0:17:46 > 0:17:48Wow. That is impressive!
0:17:48 > 0:17:52Not the best teeth in the world. But they're recognisable teeth.
0:17:52 > 0:17:54I think if you don't have teeth, these teeth are going to do!
0:17:56 > 0:17:58It was the first time that a plastic
0:17:58 > 0:18:01had been successfully moulded into a recognisable shape.
0:18:03 > 0:18:05Hyatt had chosen to make dentures,
0:18:05 > 0:18:08but celluloid could be made into anything.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17This is what the surface of celluloid looks like,
0:18:17 > 0:18:20magnified over 10,000 times.
0:18:22 > 0:18:27At this scale, you can see lines that are cracks on the surface,
0:18:27 > 0:18:29and craters that are air bubbles.
0:18:32 > 0:18:35But why celluloid behaves as it does
0:18:35 > 0:18:37can only be seen by exploring its inner world.
0:18:39 > 0:18:44Celluloid's molecules resemble strands of tangled-up string.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50At normal temperature, they're tightly packed together
0:18:50 > 0:18:55and can't budge, so the shape is fixed.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02But when it's heated above 70 degrees Celsius,
0:19:02 > 0:19:06the strands become much looser and are able to be moved around.
0:19:08 > 0:19:12That's what allows celluloid to be moulded into different shapes.
0:19:18 > 0:19:21Objects that had been crafted out of expensive natural materials
0:19:21 > 0:19:25could now be made more cheaply with celluloid.
0:19:27 > 0:19:31These are some of the earliest objects made from celluloid.
0:19:31 > 0:19:35This is a bust of Victoria and it's imitating ivory,
0:19:35 > 0:19:38and here are some salad spoons, again, imitating ivory,
0:19:38 > 0:19:42although you can hear that they're not quite right acoustically.
0:19:42 > 0:19:44But I think this is my favourite piece,
0:19:44 > 0:19:47it's a notepad and this cover,
0:19:47 > 0:19:50it looks a bit like tortoise shell but it's actually celluloid.
0:19:50 > 0:19:52It's a lovely piece this,
0:19:52 > 0:19:55you can imagine an early Victorian detective
0:19:55 > 0:19:57getting it out of their pocket.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00And that's the odd thing about celluloid
0:20:00 > 0:20:03is that although it's this wonder plastic that comes along,
0:20:03 > 0:20:07it spends most of its life imitating other materials.
0:20:10 > 0:20:15But 20 years after Hyatt first created celluloid,
0:20:15 > 0:20:17it found another use that ensured its place
0:20:17 > 0:20:19in popular culture for ever.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28Celluloid could do what neither ivory
0:20:28 > 0:20:29nor any other material could do.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33It could be made extremely flexible and sensitive to light.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43The invention of celluloid brought about the dawn of cinema.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46Just as it immortalised the film stars of the past,
0:20:46 > 0:20:51so celluloid ensured its own place in history.
0:20:51 > 0:20:55But as a material to make everyday objects,
0:20:55 > 0:20:58celluloid had one big flaw.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01Celluloid is called a plastic
0:21:01 > 0:21:03because it can be moulded into shape.
0:21:03 > 0:21:05But there are good reasons why very few objects
0:21:05 > 0:21:07are made of celluloid today.
0:21:07 > 0:21:09Firstly, it's flammable.
0:21:09 > 0:21:11Secondly, it does this.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22It loses its shape when it gets heated up.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25Not ideal if you have celluloid dentures
0:21:25 > 0:21:27and you like a hot cup of tea!
0:21:31 > 0:21:35But celluloid had hinted at the brave new world that lay ahead.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39We had improved on nature,
0:21:39 > 0:21:42and we were convinced we could do even better
0:21:42 > 0:21:45with our own, man-made materials.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48Our new world would be made of plastic,
0:21:48 > 0:21:53conceived in the laboratory and mass-produced in vast factories.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04No-one was more aware of the potential of plastic
0:22:04 > 0:22:06than Doctor Leo Baekeland.
0:22:12 > 0:22:15With new inventions such as the radio, the telephone
0:22:15 > 0:22:19and Baekeland's personal favourite, the automobile,
0:22:19 > 0:22:22he foresaw a myriad of new uses for plastics.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29Baekeland was a chemist and a businessman.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32Combining the two had already made him extremely rich,
0:22:32 > 0:22:34and now he spotted a new opportunity.
0:22:39 > 0:22:44In his mansion in the suburbs of New York, he set to work.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50He'd set his sights on replacing shellac
0:22:50 > 0:22:53which is the material that old records were made out of.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56Shellac is a resin that's excreted by the Indian lac beetle,
0:22:56 > 0:22:58and it looks like this!
0:22:58 > 0:23:00And as the demand for shellac increased,
0:23:00 > 0:23:02the lac beetle just couldn't keep up.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05And Baekeland thought that he could solve this problem
0:23:05 > 0:23:07by creating a new plastic.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15In the grounds of his estate, Baekeland had built a chemistry lab
0:23:15 > 0:23:18equipped with everything he would need.
0:23:27 > 0:23:28Baekeland's starting point
0:23:28 > 0:23:31was to investigate a mysterious chemical reaction.
0:23:31 > 0:23:36It involves mixing two chemicals, phenol and formaldehyde.
0:23:38 > 0:23:42Dr Sara Ronca is a chemist at Loughborough University
0:23:42 > 0:23:45and is an expert in plastics.
0:23:45 > 0:23:48This is quite a pongy reaction you've got here.
0:23:48 > 0:23:49It's a very smelly one!
0:23:51 > 0:23:56This is the reaction that interested Baekeland.
0:23:56 > 0:23:59It takes a few minutes before anything happens...
0:24:00 > 0:24:03He must have been a patient man, Baekeland?
0:24:03 > 0:24:05You really need a lot of patience.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09..but then, something rather spectacular occurs.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14- Oh! Woah.- Yeah.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17The reaction creates a plastic-y substance
0:24:17 > 0:24:19that moulds to the shape of the beaker,
0:24:19 > 0:24:21and turns pink.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24Nobody had yet found a use for it.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27But it caught the attention of Baekeland.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30Look it, though. It's pretty cool stuff!
0:24:30 > 0:24:34It does look promising, I can see why he's interested in it.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37It's sort of plasticy, but it falls apart.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40It falls apart and it's porous, so you cannot really use it.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45Baekeland understood that if he managed to get
0:24:45 > 0:24:49a better version of this material, this could have some potential.
0:24:51 > 0:24:54Baekeland believed he could find a way
0:24:54 > 0:24:56to modify the chemical reaction
0:24:56 > 0:25:01so that it would give him a better, stronger, more useful plastic.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05Day after day, he tried everything he could think of.
0:25:05 > 0:25:10After five years of painstaking work,
0:25:10 > 0:25:15he finally found that by controlling the speed of the reaction
0:25:15 > 0:25:19with chemicals and heat, he could produce something different and new.
0:25:20 > 0:25:24This time, there was no pink solid produced.
0:25:24 > 0:25:30Instead, inside the flask an orange resin was slowly forming.
0:25:32 > 0:25:34Let's have a look. It looks...
0:25:34 > 0:25:36It's like honey.
0:25:36 > 0:25:38It's very very viscous. Exactly like honey.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44Baekeland's next step was to pour the liquid resin into a mould.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49With pressure and heat,
0:25:49 > 0:25:51he hoped it would turn into a solid plastic shape.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58In our case, we're trying to make a plastic cup.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03So either this is going to be a soggy mess or...
0:26:03 > 0:26:05Let's see what we managed to achieve.
0:26:07 > 0:26:09Oh. Aw.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12Well, I don't think this is quite what we were expecting to produce!
0:26:12 > 0:26:14What do you think went wrong?
0:26:14 > 0:26:17I guess we didn't wait long enough.
0:26:17 > 0:26:22We still have some bubbles in it.
0:26:22 > 0:26:24But you can see the shape.
0:26:24 > 0:26:28Can you imagine how many times Baekeland had to repeat this
0:26:28 > 0:26:30to get something nice?
0:26:30 > 0:26:33I think for me, you see modern plastic objects
0:26:33 > 0:26:36in their perfect thousands, millions of them.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39When you actually try to make one yourself,
0:26:39 > 0:26:42you realise it's really tricky stuff.
0:26:43 > 0:26:45Baekeland persisted
0:26:45 > 0:26:50until he had perfected the process to make hard, solid plastic objects.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54And he named his new plastic Bakelite.
0:26:56 > 0:27:00As a liquid resin, Bakelite is made up of stringy chains
0:27:00 > 0:27:04that can move around, so it can be moulded.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07But when heat and pressure are applied,
0:27:07 > 0:27:11the chains grow in length, links form between them,
0:27:11 > 0:27:13locking Bakelite into shape.
0:27:15 > 0:27:18Bakelite was a major breakthrough.
0:27:18 > 0:27:22Unlike celluloid, once set hard, it kept its shape for ever.
0:27:25 > 0:27:31When Bakelite hit the shops in the 1920s, it caused a sensation.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35This was not plastic imitating nature,
0:27:35 > 0:27:37but a material in its own right.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41Bakelite looked as if it came from the future,
0:27:41 > 0:27:44it felt new, fresh and modern.
0:27:44 > 0:27:48And many of our most hi-tech products
0:27:48 > 0:27:50used Bakelite as their outer shell.
0:27:53 > 0:27:59Patrick Cook is curator of the Bakelite Museum in Somerset.
0:27:59 > 0:28:01He's amassed one of the largest collections of Bakelite
0:28:01 > 0:28:03in the world.
0:28:03 > 0:28:05This is the birth of the modern world as we know it!
0:28:05 > 0:28:09It is, when you think, what could we have done without it?
0:28:09 > 0:28:13No! Is that a Bakelite hot water bottle?
0:28:13 > 0:28:16It is, looking like a traditional rubber hot water bottle.
0:28:16 > 0:28:18That's fantastic. It's electric. It just heats up.
0:28:18 > 0:28:20Don't get distracted. Come this way!
0:28:20 > 0:28:23There's a whole variety of different things here.
0:28:23 > 0:28:25Look at this, toys. What is this?
0:28:25 > 0:28:27Well, you push that along and find out!
0:28:27 > 0:28:29Pull it to the back.
0:28:29 > 0:28:31My god! Is it a toy?
0:28:31 > 0:28:33No, it's a tie.
0:28:33 > 0:28:35No, it's what you should be wearing!
0:28:35 > 0:28:39I haven't got a tie on. My mum would really approve.
0:28:39 > 0:28:40Thanks, Patrick.
0:28:40 > 0:28:42Oh, wow.
0:28:42 > 0:28:46Now these are the things I really recognise as Bakelite objects.
0:28:46 > 0:28:49The art deco era starts coming through this material.
0:28:49 > 0:28:52It's amazing to me that radio comes along
0:28:52 > 0:28:53and you need a new material
0:28:53 > 0:28:58to embody this era of electronics and this wireless sound.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01And then, television comes along and Bakelite steps up there too.
0:29:01 > 0:29:04I can see that you've got some very extraordinary early television sets.
0:29:04 > 0:29:07Well, these are almost the Morris Minor of the television world.
0:29:07 > 0:29:10When you look at these screens and how small they are,
0:29:10 > 0:29:12however they did get round this
0:29:12 > 0:29:16- with this rather wonderful gadget here.- Brilliant!
0:29:16 > 0:29:19So you've got a small screen but you just put this massive lens over it.
0:29:19 > 0:29:21Absolutely! You may not be able to see the picture
0:29:21 > 0:29:24but you do have a 12-inch-screen.
0:29:24 > 0:29:27Because it was mouldable, people could start having fun with
0:29:27 > 0:29:30this new hi-tech gadgetry that was coming into people's houses.
0:29:30 > 0:29:34It was living the dream, this modern dream, being modern.
0:29:34 > 0:29:38It conveyed modernity. This was not only the material of the moment,
0:29:38 > 0:29:39but the material of the future.
0:29:39 > 0:29:43Is there one object in this marvellous collection
0:29:43 > 0:29:47that you think Leo Baekeland would be most delighted to see
0:29:47 > 0:29:49if he was to rise from his grave again?
0:29:49 > 0:29:52I think the fact that it affected communication
0:29:52 > 0:29:57and obviously the telephone is the perfect example.
0:29:57 > 0:29:58When you think,
0:29:58 > 0:30:02this product actually had a 40 or even a 50 year life...
0:30:02 > 0:30:04So this is a Bakelite telephone,
0:30:04 > 0:30:09just when the telephone was starting to become part of everybody's life.
0:30:09 > 0:30:12Oh, yes. This is a beautiful object, isn't it?
0:30:12 > 0:30:18Hello? Is that... Ah, Mr Baekeland, we're on one of your telephones...
0:30:20 > 0:30:25By the end of 1930s, over 200,000 tonnes of Bakelite
0:30:25 > 0:30:30had been made into a fantastic variety of household objects.
0:30:31 > 0:30:36But as successful as it was, even Bakelite had its limits.
0:30:38 > 0:30:41What strikes you looking around this wonderful museum
0:30:41 > 0:30:43is not just what's here, but what's missing.
0:30:43 > 0:30:46There are no plastic bags, there are no water bottles,
0:30:46 > 0:30:48there are no trainers,
0:30:48 > 0:30:52these objects that form such a large part of our lives.
0:30:52 > 0:30:55And that's because Bakelite is just not up to making those things.
0:30:55 > 0:30:57It's too hard and brittle. It's inflexible.
0:30:58 > 0:31:02And so Bakelite, this material of a thousand uses,
0:31:02 > 0:31:05never became as ubiquitous as the plastics we use today.
0:31:11 > 0:31:14But that was about to change.
0:31:14 > 0:31:18Factories would soon be churning out countless new plastics
0:31:18 > 0:31:19that would transform our lives.
0:31:21 > 0:31:24They weren't invented by chance or trial and error,
0:31:24 > 0:31:25but for the first time
0:31:25 > 0:31:29through an understanding of the inner structure of plastics.
0:31:34 > 0:31:37Plastics are polymers and that's Greek for many parts.
0:31:37 > 0:31:41So they're a bit like this chain of paperclips.
0:31:41 > 0:31:44They're individual components linked together.
0:31:46 > 0:31:50Although in the case of plastics, the individual components
0:31:50 > 0:31:53are molecules containing mostly carbon and hydrogen.
0:31:54 > 0:31:58And the key thing is that they can join together to form long chains.
0:32:00 > 0:32:02Now in the 1920s, when scientists realised
0:32:02 > 0:32:05this is what plastics looked like,
0:32:05 > 0:32:09it opened up new possibilities for making plastics.
0:32:09 > 0:32:10Because before then, well,
0:32:10 > 0:32:14the chemical reactions they were using were a bit of a mystery.
0:32:14 > 0:32:17But then they realised that they only had to find molecules
0:32:17 > 0:32:19that would link together
0:32:19 > 0:32:22and they could create loads of new plastics.
0:32:25 > 0:32:27And in one of those great moments in history
0:32:27 > 0:32:30where knowledge and opportunity coincide,
0:32:30 > 0:32:33scientists realised that a vast source of raw ingredients
0:32:33 > 0:32:37for these new plastics had already been discovered.
0:32:39 > 0:32:41With the proliferation of the motorcar
0:32:41 > 0:32:44and expansion of industry and cities,
0:32:44 > 0:32:47enormous quantities of oil and gas were being pumped out of the ground
0:32:47 > 0:32:50and processed into fuel.
0:32:50 > 0:32:54And the products of oil and gas refineries
0:32:54 > 0:32:58were hydrocarbons, containing exactly the kind of molecules
0:32:58 > 0:33:01that could join up to make plastics.
0:33:01 > 0:33:03Cheap and abundant,
0:33:03 > 0:33:06everything was now in place for the plastics explosion.
0:33:08 > 0:33:11Nylon, PVC,
0:33:11 > 0:33:16polystyrene, polyester.
0:33:17 > 0:33:20All destined to become household names.
0:33:23 > 0:33:26Plastics were taking over our material world.
0:33:26 > 0:33:30Everything from toys and tools to footwear and furniture
0:33:30 > 0:33:32could now be made with plastics.
0:33:32 > 0:33:34In every aspect of our lives,
0:33:34 > 0:33:37they were replacing more traditional materials
0:33:37 > 0:33:40like metals and woods, ceramics and leather.
0:33:40 > 0:33:43But there was one area which they couldn't compete,
0:33:43 > 0:33:45and that's where strength was required.
0:33:47 > 0:33:49The modern age demanded strong materials.
0:33:51 > 0:33:53And when we needed strength,
0:33:53 > 0:33:56we looked not to plastics but to metals.
0:33:58 > 0:34:01On their own, plastics were too weak,
0:34:01 > 0:34:03too bendy to make a car or a plane.
0:34:05 > 0:34:08But plastics had one big advantage, they were light,
0:34:08 > 0:34:11an essential quality for speed and flight.
0:34:11 > 0:34:16So scientists set out on a quest to create plastics as strong as metals.
0:34:20 > 0:34:24In 1963, engineers at the Royal Aircraft Establishment
0:34:24 > 0:34:27in Farnborough made a breakthrough.
0:34:27 > 0:34:31They managed to strengthen plastic so effectively,
0:34:31 > 0:34:34it looked as though it might give metal a run for its money.
0:34:37 > 0:34:39This is carbon fibre.
0:34:39 > 0:34:42It's extremely strong, light and stiff.
0:34:42 > 0:34:45Scientists found that when they combined it with plastic
0:34:45 > 0:34:48they created a new material that was much better
0:34:48 > 0:34:49than the sum of its parts.
0:34:51 > 0:34:53Some people called it black plastic,
0:34:53 > 0:34:55but today we know it as carbon fibre composite.
0:34:57 > 0:35:02Here, a carbon fibre composite is being made from sheets
0:35:02 > 0:35:04that contain carbon fibres and plastic.
0:35:06 > 0:35:09It's built up layer by layer,
0:35:09 > 0:35:12on moulds that can take any shape you need.
0:35:12 > 0:35:17And then cooked in an oven, to make the plastic set hard.
0:35:17 > 0:35:22The end result is a material with a unique combination of properties,
0:35:22 > 0:35:25strong, stiff and light.
0:35:25 > 0:35:30Ideal for making one of the fastest machines on the planet.
0:35:35 > 0:35:37Since the 1980s,
0:35:37 > 0:35:41Formula One teams stopped using metal for their car bodies,
0:35:41 > 0:35:43and changed to using carbon fibre composite
0:35:43 > 0:35:46because of its winning combination
0:35:46 > 0:35:49of lightness, stiffness and strength.
0:35:50 > 0:35:52Brian O'Rourke is the chief composites engineer
0:35:52 > 0:35:55for the Williams team
0:35:55 > 0:35:59and was involved in building their first composite car in 1984.
0:36:01 > 0:36:05What we're looking at is an awful lot of composite materials.
0:36:05 > 0:36:06How much of this is composite then?
0:36:06 > 0:36:09Everything that you can see from the outside,
0:36:09 > 0:36:11apart from the wheels and tyres.
0:36:11 > 0:36:13So, the whole of the fuselage is composite,
0:36:13 > 0:36:15- the whole of the underneath?- Yes.
0:36:15 > 0:36:21Suspension elements. This is about structural composite materials.
0:36:21 > 0:36:26We have been using these on F1 cars since 1981
0:36:26 > 0:36:28in the industry generally
0:36:28 > 0:36:32and they replaced metallic materials that went before them.
0:36:37 > 0:36:40That's because carbon fibre composites
0:36:40 > 0:36:43can offer the benefits of metals for a lot less weight.
0:36:45 > 0:36:49So, to compare the two, Brian has set-up a simple experiment for me
0:36:49 > 0:36:55with two beams, one steel, one carbon fibre composite.
0:36:55 > 0:37:00One critical property is the stiffness, how much give it has.
0:37:00 > 0:37:02I'm going to test this by standing on them,
0:37:02 > 0:37:05to see how much they bend.
0:37:05 > 0:37:07Do Formula One drivers have to do this test?
0:37:07 > 0:37:10- Am I treading on the toes of Schumacher or...- No.
0:37:10 > 0:37:12But I think they would be interested in it,
0:37:12 > 0:37:14if it was going to make the car go faster.
0:37:14 > 0:37:16OK. So if you stand right in the middle.
0:37:16 > 0:37:19It's taking my weight no problem at all.
0:37:19 > 0:37:20It feels very safe.
0:37:20 > 0:37:24Although, let's see how heavy this is...
0:37:24 > 0:37:28I've been going down the gym, but yes, it is heavy!
0:37:28 > 0:37:29All right, let's try this one.
0:37:29 > 0:37:31This is the composite.
0:37:31 > 0:37:33No problem at all! One handed!
0:37:33 > 0:37:38So this weighs a lot less, but does that mean it will bend a lot more?
0:37:38 > 0:37:40Wow. So they've got the same stiffness.
0:37:40 > 0:37:42They're able to resist my weight
0:37:42 > 0:37:46- but this one is three and a bit times lighter?- Yes.
0:37:46 > 0:37:49That's what's really the interest for us in this material
0:37:49 > 0:37:52because it's providing the same stiffness as steel would
0:37:52 > 0:37:55but for less than a third of the weight.
0:37:55 > 0:37:59So the carbon fibre composite is a great advantage over metallics.
0:38:03 > 0:38:06And there's another advantage
0:38:06 > 0:38:08that carbon fibre composites have over metals.
0:38:13 > 0:38:18In a crash, the front section of the car explodes into tiny fragments.
0:38:18 > 0:38:20Although this looks dramatic,
0:38:20 > 0:38:25this actually disperses the energy of the impact away from the driver.
0:38:26 > 0:38:31In contrast, the driver's cockpit is designed to be strong and rigid.
0:38:33 > 0:38:36Together, this means that the driver is protected
0:38:36 > 0:38:38as much as possible from the impact.
0:38:39 > 0:38:43It's made driving a Formula One car far safer than it used to be.
0:38:46 > 0:38:49Until carbon fibre composites can be mass-produced,
0:38:49 > 0:38:51they'll stay in the hands of specialists,
0:38:51 > 0:38:54but where they can be used, they give huge advantages.
0:38:57 > 0:39:00Because of its light weight,
0:39:00 > 0:39:02carbon fibre composite isn't just being used
0:39:02 > 0:39:04by Formula One racing teams,
0:39:04 > 0:39:07it's increasingly being used by the aerospace industry.
0:39:12 > 0:39:16The Boeing Dreamliner is exactly half composite.
0:39:16 > 0:39:20And in the future, more and more aircraft
0:39:20 > 0:39:23will essentially be made from plastic and carbon fibre.
0:39:27 > 0:39:31But strength and stiffness aren't all we demand from our materials.
0:39:32 > 0:39:35In recent years, one new material with exotic
0:39:35 > 0:39:39but incredibly useful properties has come out of the lab.
0:39:40 > 0:39:43At the heart of every plastic we've ever made
0:39:43 > 0:39:46is one key element, carbon.
0:39:46 > 0:39:49We're more familiar with it in its pure state
0:39:49 > 0:39:53as the graphite in your pencil, or if you can afford it, diamonds!
0:39:58 > 0:40:01But one of the greatest discoveries of the last decade
0:40:01 > 0:40:03was a new form of carbon.
0:40:10 > 0:40:15It's called graphene, and I can only describe it in superlatives.
0:40:15 > 0:40:19It's super-thin, super-strong, super stiff.
0:40:19 > 0:40:22It's even a superstar of the electronic world.
0:40:24 > 0:40:28Graphene's extraordinary properties were discovered in 2004
0:40:28 > 0:40:31at the University of Manchester
0:40:31 > 0:40:35by Professors Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov.
0:40:35 > 0:40:36This is who I've come to see.
0:40:36 > 0:40:39And it won them the Nobel Prize.
0:40:39 > 0:40:42Andre. Mark Miodownik.
0:40:42 > 0:40:43Hi, Mark. Nice to meet you.
0:40:43 > 0:40:47Andre is going to show me how they first made graphene
0:40:47 > 0:40:50in a way that surprised them by its simplicity.
0:40:50 > 0:40:53So these are just flakes of graphite?
0:40:53 > 0:40:58So it's flakes of graphite which we use in our lab.
0:40:58 > 0:41:02Andre calls this the Scotch Tape method.
0:41:02 > 0:41:05It was inspired by a colleague showing him some sticky tape
0:41:05 > 0:41:09that had been used to clean-up a graphite sample.
0:41:09 > 0:41:13On the tape, Andre found incredibly thin flakes of graphite.
0:41:15 > 0:41:18Is this some sort of advanced form of Scotch Tape?
0:41:18 > 0:41:24No, it's just the same Scotch Tape you can find anywhere.
0:41:24 > 0:41:28What you do, you just split it into two,
0:41:28 > 0:41:32then split it again into two
0:41:32 > 0:41:35and continue this way.
0:41:35 > 0:41:39The idea was to split the graphite into thinner and thinner layers,
0:41:39 > 0:41:42until it was just one atom thick.
0:41:42 > 0:41:45This is how Andre first made Graphene.
0:41:46 > 0:41:49It's a beautifully elegant experiment
0:41:49 > 0:41:52and what makes it even more beautiful is that for me
0:41:52 > 0:41:54is that anyone can do it in their house.
0:41:54 > 0:41:56They could get down to an atomic layer of graphene
0:41:56 > 0:42:01just by taking their pencil or perhaps a purer form of graphite.
0:42:01 > 0:42:02Exactly.
0:42:02 > 0:42:04You need a little bit of experience
0:42:04 > 0:42:08to find out individual atomic layers, OK, or graphene.
0:42:08 > 0:42:11But don't make a mistake.
0:42:11 > 0:42:15Nobel prizes are not given for kitchen-run experiments.
0:42:15 > 0:42:21It was not the point that we managed to find the very thin flakes.
0:42:21 > 0:42:25What we did, we studied properties of these thin layers
0:42:25 > 0:42:29and found out that this material is out of our world.
0:42:29 > 0:42:33It shows so many beautiful and interesting phenomena.
0:42:33 > 0:42:35That was an important step.
0:42:41 > 0:42:44This is how they first identified graphene.
0:42:44 > 0:42:49The different colours represent different thicknesses of graphite.
0:42:49 > 0:42:52The yellow is hundreds of atoms thick.
0:42:52 > 0:42:56But the fragment that is faint blue, almost transparent,
0:42:56 > 0:42:59is just one single atomic layer.
0:42:59 > 0:43:02You can't go thinner than this.
0:43:02 > 0:43:04And this is graphene.
0:43:05 > 0:43:08It's the strongest material we know.
0:43:08 > 0:43:12200 times stronger than steel.
0:43:12 > 0:43:14And in this two dimensional material,
0:43:14 > 0:43:19electricity travels at an amazing one million metres per second.
0:43:21 > 0:43:25Graphene stands out because it shows
0:43:25 > 0:43:28so many remarkable properties, especially conductivity.
0:43:28 > 0:43:31Think about it, this is only one atom thick
0:43:31 > 0:43:34and when you make films thinner and thinner,
0:43:34 > 0:43:36usually properties deteriorate,
0:43:36 > 0:43:39but in this, you are in the ultimate limit.
0:43:41 > 0:43:44Magnified 20 million times,
0:43:44 > 0:43:48this is what graphene looks like at the atomic scale.
0:43:50 > 0:43:55Each blurry white spot is an individual carbon atom
0:43:55 > 0:44:01and you can just make out how they are arranged in a hexagonal pattern.
0:44:01 > 0:44:03Graphene is two dimensional
0:44:03 > 0:44:06and that's what gives it its unique properties.
0:44:08 > 0:44:12This material, despite being one atom thick,
0:44:12 > 0:44:17it's already conducting and that was sort of eureka moment
0:44:17 > 0:44:21when I first realised that this material is worth studying.
0:44:25 > 0:44:29In the hi-tech, dust-free clean labs at Manchester,
0:44:29 > 0:44:33Andre's team are developing transistors made from graphene.
0:44:34 > 0:44:38Graphene could ultimately replace silicon chips,
0:44:38 > 0:44:42creating the next generation of super-fast computers,
0:44:42 > 0:44:46up to 100 times faster than today's.
0:44:46 > 0:44:49And we're only just beginning to imagine the vast possibilities
0:44:49 > 0:44:54graphene opens up in other fields of science.
0:44:54 > 0:44:57There's a sense in which anything is possible,
0:44:57 > 0:45:00that only our imaginations will limit what we can create.
0:45:07 > 0:45:11Our modern world is shaped by stuff we've made ourselves.
0:45:12 > 0:45:17Built of steel, concrete and glass,
0:45:17 > 0:45:19and at its heart,
0:45:19 > 0:45:23the plastics that dominate our lives.
0:45:23 > 0:45:28The apparent triumph of the man-made over the natural world.
0:45:34 > 0:45:36There's no doubt that
0:45:36 > 0:45:39laboratory designed materials have been impressive.
0:45:39 > 0:45:42And so it's tempting to think they'll dominate the future.
0:45:42 > 0:45:45But there's an intriguing new way of designing materials
0:45:45 > 0:45:47that promises something different.
0:45:47 > 0:45:50And it involves going back to nature.
0:45:53 > 0:45:56It's easy to forget that artificial plastics
0:45:56 > 0:46:00were first inspired by the raw materials of nature.
0:46:00 > 0:46:04But now we're returning to this approach,
0:46:04 > 0:46:08this time tapping into the designs nature has created
0:46:08 > 0:46:10from 4 billion years of evolution.
0:46:12 > 0:46:15We're learning to examine the natural world
0:46:15 > 0:46:17from the material science perspective
0:46:17 > 0:46:20and as we unlock its secrets,
0:46:20 > 0:46:24we're finding the inspiration for a whole new generation of materials,
0:46:24 > 0:46:27superior to anything we've yet created.
0:46:30 > 0:46:32If you know where to look,
0:46:32 > 0:46:35you can find creatures that do very special things.
0:46:35 > 0:46:37Have a look at this guy.
0:46:37 > 0:46:41He's a little beetle called a green dock beetle
0:46:41 > 0:46:43and he can just hang upside down on the underside of a leaf
0:46:43 > 0:46:45for as long as he likes.
0:46:45 > 0:46:49Can walk straight up vertical walls.
0:46:49 > 0:46:52Things that we can only dream of doing as humans.
0:46:57 > 0:47:01Professor Stanislav Gorb is a zoologist at the University of Kiel.
0:47:02 > 0:47:06And over the last ten years, he has been experimenting with beetles
0:47:06 > 0:47:09and other insects, to analyse their ability
0:47:09 > 0:47:12to stick to all types of surfaces.
0:47:16 > 0:47:20As you see, we bind it on a human hair
0:47:20 > 0:47:23So you've attached it to a hair, so it won't disappear,
0:47:23 > 0:47:26you can go for a walk on this bit of glass.
0:47:26 > 0:47:28OK. Wow. So it's happy upside down?
0:47:28 > 0:47:29Absolutely.
0:47:29 > 0:47:32Its own weight is about 11 milligrams
0:47:32 > 0:47:35- so I put 300 milligrams.- 300!
0:47:35 > 0:47:39So it's about 30 times heavier than the beetle. And it's fine.
0:47:39 > 0:47:43That's amazing. So have you trained the beetle to do that?
0:47:43 > 0:47:46- No. It's trained by nature!- OK.
0:47:46 > 0:47:48So millions of years of evolution
0:47:48 > 0:47:51have allowed it to be able to walk upside down.
0:47:51 > 0:47:52That's right.
0:47:54 > 0:47:56Sticking to glass upside down
0:47:56 > 0:48:00and supporting 30 times your own body weight is impressive.
0:48:04 > 0:48:06How the beetle does this
0:48:06 > 0:48:10is all to do with the microscopic structures on its feet.
0:48:10 > 0:48:13And these are inspiring Professor Gorb's designs
0:48:13 > 0:48:14for a brand new material.
0:48:17 > 0:48:21Here you see this zoomed in area of the foot from here.
0:48:21 > 0:48:24And what you see here are the hairs.
0:48:24 > 0:48:29Then if you further zoom in, that is what I do now,
0:48:29 > 0:48:33you see that every single hair is terminated by a little pad.
0:48:33 > 0:48:36There's no glue involved,
0:48:36 > 0:48:40these pads at the end of the hairs on the beetle's feet
0:48:40 > 0:48:42enable it to make really good contact
0:48:42 > 0:48:45with the surface it wants to stick to.
0:48:45 > 0:48:48And that's giving it what appears to be this miraculous stickiness,
0:48:48 > 0:48:51that it's able to walk up walls or upside down?
0:48:51 > 0:48:53That's absolutely right.
0:48:53 > 0:48:58This structure is built to generate good contact
0:48:58 > 0:49:03and contact is the key point to generate strong stickiness.
0:49:04 > 0:49:07Taking the beetle's feet as his inspiration,
0:49:07 > 0:49:10Professor Gorb has worked with a German technology firm
0:49:10 > 0:49:14to design an adhesive tape made from silicon rubber.
0:49:15 > 0:49:19It's an entirely synthetic material, but designed to stick
0:49:19 > 0:49:22just like the beetle's feet, using microscopic hairs.
0:49:24 > 0:49:28So it's got no adhesive on it at all? It's just hairs.
0:49:28 > 0:49:30It's no different chemical.
0:49:30 > 0:49:36This is just a material very similar to normal silicon rubber.
0:49:36 > 0:49:39There is nothing special about the chemistry,
0:49:39 > 0:49:43it sticks just because of the structures.
0:49:43 > 0:49:48Actually you can really feel it. It's quite a strange feeling.
0:49:48 > 0:49:50- It's a sort of dry stickiness.- Yes.
0:49:53 > 0:49:56The screen on the left shows a microscopic image
0:49:56 > 0:49:58of the beetle's hairs.
0:49:58 > 0:50:00And the screen on the right shows the tape
0:50:00 > 0:50:02that Professor Gorb's team has developed.
0:50:04 > 0:50:08Both have the same essential design features.
0:50:08 > 0:50:11You see very similar kind of structure.
0:50:11 > 0:50:16They're a little bit larger, compared to the beetle.
0:50:16 > 0:50:17On a micro-scale,
0:50:17 > 0:50:21- you've reproduced the same structure as on the beetle's legs?- Right.
0:50:23 > 0:50:27Professor Gorb is very confident about his beetle-inspired tape...
0:50:29 > 0:50:33..and has set-up an experiment to show me what it can do.
0:50:33 > 0:50:37Right, so this is your tape with the artificial beetle hairs?
0:50:37 > 0:50:39That's right.
0:50:39 > 0:50:41And I'm going to hang upside down on the ceiling.
0:50:41 > 0:50:44Exactly. I will just assist you.
0:50:47 > 0:50:50So you see how the contacts are formed.
0:50:50 > 0:50:53So the little hairs are being pressed into the glass.
0:50:53 > 0:50:56They are your real contact.
0:50:58 > 0:51:01I want to make it properly contact.
0:51:03 > 0:51:07So you're sure this is going to work, are you?
0:51:07 > 0:51:10I mean, it's one thing to see tape sticking to table
0:51:10 > 0:51:16but it's quite another risking life and limb.
0:51:16 > 0:51:19Although I do very much want to be a beetle.
0:51:21 > 0:51:23So I just hang off this, do I?
0:51:23 > 0:51:26Yes. One, two, three!
0:51:28 > 0:51:34It works! It works. You're an absolute genius.
0:51:35 > 0:51:40Who would have believed it? I know how Spiderman feels, finally!
0:51:41 > 0:51:45This beetle-inspired sticky tape shows how designs found in nature
0:51:45 > 0:51:50can inspire the creation of new materials.
0:51:54 > 0:51:56But there is a more profound way
0:51:56 > 0:52:00in which the relationship between artificial materials and nature
0:52:00 > 0:52:02is being redefined.
0:52:07 > 0:52:12In the future, the boundary between living and non-living materials,
0:52:12 > 0:52:15those that we've created, will become ever more blurred.
0:52:17 > 0:52:21The area where this will be most striking is medicine,
0:52:21 > 0:52:24and the materials we design to be implanted in us.
0:52:27 > 0:52:29These are all biomaterials,
0:52:29 > 0:52:32man-made materials designed to go inside the body.
0:52:32 > 0:52:36This is an artificial hip joint made of titanium.
0:52:36 > 0:52:40This is a really extraordinary object, a piece of sculpture.
0:52:40 > 0:52:44And this is an artificial knee joint. It's a great object.
0:52:44 > 0:52:47And this is an X-ray of dental fillings.
0:52:47 > 0:52:51If you like sweets, you've definitely got one of these.
0:52:51 > 0:52:54Now, one thing these have all got in common
0:52:54 > 0:52:57is that they're designed to be biologically inert in the body,
0:52:57 > 0:52:59so not to interact with the body at all.
0:52:59 > 0:53:02But the next generation of biomaterials
0:53:02 > 0:53:04is going to do the exact opposite.
0:53:04 > 0:53:06It's going to interact with our living cells.
0:53:06 > 0:53:09And many of them are going to be made of plastics.
0:53:09 > 0:53:14At the moment, artificial knee and hip joints
0:53:14 > 0:53:16are the best surgical option for patients
0:53:16 > 0:53:18with severely damaged cartilage.
0:53:21 > 0:53:24However, that may be about to change.
0:53:26 > 0:53:30Professor Molly Stevens of Imperial College London
0:53:30 > 0:53:33is developing a biomaterial made of plastic
0:53:33 > 0:53:35that could mean that in the future
0:53:35 > 0:53:39artificial joints will no longer be needed.
0:53:39 > 0:53:42She's developed a plastic that,
0:53:42 > 0:53:45when inserted into damaged cartilage,
0:53:45 > 0:53:48helps it to regenerate and repair itself.
0:53:50 > 0:53:54On the bottom of the screen is a piece of real cartilage tissue.
0:53:54 > 0:53:57And above this is the plastic biomaterial
0:53:57 > 0:53:58that Molly's team has developed.
0:54:00 > 0:54:03This is actually an artificial material,
0:54:03 > 0:54:05that we've designed and that we've made,
0:54:05 > 0:54:09so that it can be used to help damaged cartilage repair itself
0:54:09 > 0:54:10inside the body.
0:54:10 > 0:54:13This is a bit like a scaffold structure that you'd have
0:54:13 > 0:54:15as you were building up a building.
0:54:15 > 0:54:17It looks quite solid to the eye,
0:54:17 > 0:54:22but it's actually made up of many, many, many small fibres.
0:54:22 > 0:54:27A microscope reveals how the scaffold works.
0:54:27 > 0:54:31So essentially, in green what you can see are these artificial fibres
0:54:31 > 0:54:34that we've made and they form the bulk of the scaffold structure.
0:54:34 > 0:54:39And what's really key here is, you can see in blue we have some cells.
0:54:39 > 0:54:43And these cells are really healthy, and they're alive
0:54:43 > 0:54:46and they're able to attach to this artificial material
0:54:46 > 0:54:49and over time they would essentially grow all over it,
0:54:49 > 0:54:54grow right into it and use these fibres as support for them
0:54:54 > 0:54:57to then form healthy, new cartilage tissue.
0:54:57 > 0:55:00So you're creating a microenvironment
0:55:00 > 0:55:02where these cells like to live?
0:55:02 > 0:55:03Yes.
0:55:03 > 0:55:07So our scaffold structure with these fibres in the green
0:55:07 > 0:55:08is actually a temporary structure.
0:55:08 > 0:55:12So this will only be there as long as we need it to be,
0:55:12 > 0:55:15so that the cells can go in, grow their own new cartilage
0:55:15 > 0:55:18and then these fibres will dissolve away.
0:55:18 > 0:55:20So the end result is that,
0:55:20 > 0:55:24rather than being left with an artificial structure in your body,
0:55:24 > 0:55:27you're actually left with your own regenerated cartilage.
0:55:30 > 0:55:33But if that's not impressive enough,
0:55:33 > 0:55:35Molly's team is also exploring
0:55:35 > 0:55:38how materials can actually control cells.
0:55:41 > 0:55:44These cells have been grown on materials
0:55:44 > 0:55:46with different patterned surfaces,
0:55:46 > 0:55:49and this is making them take what, for cells,
0:55:49 > 0:55:52are extremely bizarre shapes.
0:55:52 > 0:55:57From circles to squares to even triangles.
0:56:02 > 0:56:05This is obviously quite an unnatural shape.
0:56:05 > 0:56:09So a cell will normally stick to a material and it will spread out.
0:56:09 > 0:56:15In this particular case, we've made some material on the surface
0:56:15 > 0:56:19in the shape of a triangle that's very cell friendly.
0:56:19 > 0:56:22So the cell likes this particular bit of material and sticks to that
0:56:22 > 0:56:25and then it essentially just spreads out and assumes
0:56:25 > 0:56:28the exact shape of the friendly material we've put underneath it.
0:56:30 > 0:56:34These are all stem cells, cells which are able to specialise
0:56:34 > 0:56:38into bone or fat or other types of cells.
0:56:38 > 0:56:40And what's fascinating is that
0:56:40 > 0:56:43the shape the stem cell is made to take by the material,
0:56:43 > 0:56:46appears to affect what it becomes.
0:56:48 > 0:56:51One of the amazing things is that if we make that shape
0:56:51 > 0:56:53the triangle, the square or the circle
0:56:53 > 0:56:56and we keep the exact same area,
0:56:56 > 0:56:59and the cell will stick on it and assume those different shapes,
0:56:59 > 0:57:03it will actually influence how the cell then specialises
0:57:03 > 0:57:06or differentiates.
0:57:06 > 0:57:09So, for example, this stem cell that is on a triangle
0:57:09 > 0:57:13is more likely to go on and form a bone-like cell
0:57:13 > 0:57:15than a cell on the circle
0:57:15 > 0:57:18which is more likely to go on and form a fat cell.
0:57:18 > 0:57:23Why triangular cells should be more likely to become bone cells,
0:57:23 > 0:57:29or circular cells to become fat cells, is not yet fully understood.
0:57:31 > 0:57:35But there's no doubt that on this frontier of material science
0:57:35 > 0:57:38there are groundbreaking discoveries to be made.
0:57:43 > 0:57:45At the heart of our modern world
0:57:45 > 0:57:49are the man-made materials that we've created to fit our needs.
0:57:52 > 0:57:56By trying to better nature, we've developed a whole family
0:57:56 > 0:58:01of fantastic plastic materials that have transformed our lives.
0:58:03 > 0:58:07Perhaps now is the turn of biologists to help bring us
0:58:07 > 0:58:08the materials of tomorrow.
0:58:10 > 0:58:13Instead of stuff that is static and lifeless,
0:58:13 > 0:58:14the materials of the future
0:58:14 > 0:58:17will build themselves and heal themselves.
0:58:17 > 0:58:19They'll adapt to their environment,
0:58:19 > 0:58:23will blur the boundary between what's living and what's man-made,
0:58:23 > 0:58:26between what makes us, and what we make.
0:58:34 > 0:58:37Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd