Seven of the strongest materials known to man

Kevlar
It’s a type of plastic used for everything from bicycle tires and racing sails to everyone’s favorite—bulletproof vests. Kevlar’s high tensile strength-to-weight ratio makes it five times stronger than steel on an equal weight basis, according to Scientific American.

Spiders silk
According to Science magazine, spider silk is five times stronger than steel. With high tensile strength, Darwin bark spiders silk is considered the toughest biological substance on the planet—10 times stronger than Kevlar.

Silicon Carbide
This material is found in meteorites in small quantities, but it’s also often used in automotive and astronomy applications and is the chief material used in battle tanks—with an armor so effective that not one British Challenger tank was destroyed in Operation Desert Storm.

Diamonds
Inured to scratching, a diamond is the hardest known natural mineral on the planet. Only diamonds themselves can be scratched by other diamonds.

Graphene
Made up of a super-thin, single layer carbon atom arranged in a lattice pattern, this much-hyped material is the basic structural element in charcoal, graphite and carbon nanotubes. It’s also often described as 200 times stronger than steel. Graphene holds promise for a slew of next-generation uses such as high-capacity batteries and ironclad aircraft wings.

Titanium alloys
Super resistant to corrosion, extremely flexible and with high-tensile strength, titanium alloys are used in high-end industries for sports cars, commercial airplanes, missiles and rockets, to name a few. They thrive with durable, lightweight materials to increase their performance.

Metallic glass
Palladium microalloy glass is believed to be one of the most durable materials on the planet, thanks to its combo of toughness and strength. It’s also extremely elastic, bending when subjected to stress instead of shattering.