Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hello, In my economics class we have to design and make a prototype original product and I had the idea to put d30 gel in a biker's helmet to absorb the shock if and when they fall however, I looked online and they don't sell it publicly so my question is does anyone know a d30 like gel that you can make/buy? Thanks.

Hi Samuel,

One option might be to purchase a D30 gel product in sheet form and adapt the sheet material to your helmet design. The D30 website lists three different sheet products at the following links:

https://www.d3o.com/products/lite-sheet/

https://www.d3o.com/products/solid-mesh-sheet/

https://www.d3o.com/products/unprocessed-lite-sheet/

You could try contacting the manufacturer about availability of these materials.

I hope this helps. Please ask again if you have more questions.

A. Norman

This may be going off the track with my previous question, but my economics teacher told us that it had to be realistic to produce too so my question is how hard would it be to mass produce the polyborodimethylsiloxane additive in this material and other needed compositions that are in d30 and would it be affordable (for a company)?

Hello Samuel,

Are you asking about a hypothetical bike helmet maker producing something like D30? Making polymers and making helmets require totally different processes and equipment. It would be more sensible for a helmet manufacturer to buy the shock absorbing material.

I hope this helps. Please ask again if you have more questions.

A. Norman

Yeah, thats basically the question I think I just didn't have the best wording but complicated is it to make a material like d30, and would it be cost effective because my entire goal is to minimize the cost of producing the helmets with d30 so its more accessible to the common market I would prefer to make our own since we wouldn't have to rely on other companies for our products and be self-sufficient

Hi Samuel,

You might want to research how siloxane polymers (with or without boron) are manufactured. That information would be useful to you in assessing the economics associated with your project. The following links should be useful:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polydimethylsiloxane

https://www.chemistryworld.com/podcasts ... 74.article

https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/4401627.pdf

I hope this helps. Please ask again if you have more questions.

A. Norman