Almost all jellyfish in the ocean are made up of water. Scientists have found that the water in its body actually accounts for 98%, and there is a lot of liquid between the molecules that make up its body, from which polymer glue can be obtained for daily use.
In the eyes of materials scientists, there are many new biomaterials in the ocean. Sea cucumbers, for example, are usually soft and elastic, but when threatened, they can harden their bodies. What made it change? Scientists found through research that sea cucumber contains a lot of gels, namely protein and fat. Fat is also a kind of gel, which exists in various animals, including us.
Gel is very common as a material, but it has characteristics that other materials can't provide. For example, a gel can remain hard and dry after absorbing 30 times its own volume of water. In the future, this soft material can be used to drive motors, pumps and valves. Glue connection can not only provide good insulation, but more importantly, it can be used faster and easier, and can withstand greater pressure than mechanical connection.
Mussels in the sea have an even more amazing patent for gluing. Its own synthetic foot silk can fix itself on rocks and sand like an anchor claw, which is the insurance of mussel life. This adhesive is very tough and can be hardened underwater. For us human beings, its role is self-evident, so scientists have conducted in-depth and detailed research on it. Scientists use rubber bands to fix mussels on one side of the glass box, but mussels prefer to stick out their synthetic feet from their feet with their natural claws. When mussels form enough foot silk, if collected, the loss is not serious for mussels, because new foot silk can be produced within two hours. Through the analysis of mussel foot silk and adhesive point, the adhesive protein of mussel was finally separated and a new adhesive was made. When scientists used the prepared biological adhesive to stick metal plates, they accidentally discovered another feature of this adhesive, which is like an invisible armor to protect metal plates from erosion.
What amazing things these are! The ingenious methods provided by nature's "patent office" surprise people again and again, because the secret hidden by every creature is our unexpected wealth.