Chinese scientist plans parachutes for every plane passenger made of world's lightest material

Creating a parachute as small and as light as a shirt is now possible, says a Chinese scientist who has developed the world's lightest material with cutting-edge nanotechnology.

Zhejiang University professor Gao Chao said the development of the material, known as carbon aerogel, had boosted the possibility of parachutes one day becoming standard safety equipment on civilian airplanes.

The new material also makes it possible for parachutes to be shaped other than like an umbrella, and could even have its user warmly and securely wrapped within it, Gao said.

The Hangzhou-based professor of polymer science and engineering led the government-funded study in creating the world's lightest material last year.

Carbon aerogel, which weighs just 0.16 milligrams per cubic centimetre, is so light that it can sit on a blade of grass without causing it to bend. The material had the potential to be used in a wide range of sectors, Gao said.

A standard-sized aerogel parachute of about 20 square metres in length and half a metre thick would weigh less than 200 grams - about the weight of cotton shirt. The material is also highly elastic and so can be compressed, making it easy to pack.