A new material barely lets heat through yet is up to 10,000 times stiffer than the silicone used in oven mitts.

Researchers at North Carolina State University have engineered a thin film that combines exceptional stiffness with extreme thermal insulation. Its thermal conductivity ranks among the lowest reported for a dense, nonporous material, approaching the theoretical limit for how effectively such a material can block heat. The film can also be printed at large scales and applied as a coating.

“Stiff materials that are good thermal insulators would have substantial utility in a variety of applications, from cookware to electronic devices to space travel,” says Dali Sun, a physics professor at NC State and co-corresponding author of a journal article describing the work.