The inner shell of a sea creature called 'abalone' is twice as tough as our highest tech ceramics. The nearest tougher material made by man is polyaramid Kevlar - a fibre so tough that it can stop bullets. But to make Kevlar, petroleum molecules are poured into a pressurised vat of concentrated sulphuric acid and boiled at several 1 00 of, in order to force it into a liquid crystal form. Then, it is subjected to high pressure drawing. The energy input is extreme, and this process results in toxic byproducts
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