Chinese scientists discover `super-material`

Beijing: Chinese scientists have discovered a "super material" that is as light as a balloon yet strong as metal, the media reported on Sunday.

The foam-like material was created by forming tiny tubes of graphene into a cellular structure, which is as stable as a diamond, said the study led by researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Shanghai Institute of Ceramics.

The material, 207 times stronger than steel, can withstand a weight 40,000 times of its own without bending, People's Daily reported. 

The high resilience also allows the material to be squeezed to just 5 percent of its original size and still return to its original shape.

The material, as indicated by the study, can be used as the cushion under the bulletproof vest, or even as the shock-absorbing armour of tanks.