SETR 04: Materials Science
SETR 04: Materials Science
MATERIALS SCIENCE
55
to create materials on demand by specification— burns on contact with water, chlorine is a poisonous
put in a request for a material with properties X, Y, gas, and yet the table salt we consume every day is
and Z, and a 3-D printer produces it for you. a completely different substance.
Broadly speaking, materials science and engineering There are two important points to note about the
research focuses on four major areas. The first is char- periodic table. First, there are a lot of elements—
acterizing the properties of materials. The second is ninety-two naturally occurring ones and twenty-six
modeling materials, which involves predicting mate- that can be observed only in laboratory conditions.
rial properties based on atomic principles. The third That’s a lot of building blocks from which different
is synthesizing materials with precise control to verify materials and molecules can be synthesized, and
whether their properties are as predicted. The fourth in fact, an astronomically large number of different
area is manufacturing and processing materials with compounds are possible. The challenge for materi-
well-characterized properties in sufficient quantities als science is to sift through this vast array of possi-
for practical applications. bilities to find the ones that are useful.
1 1 2
H He
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Li Be B C N O F Ne
3 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Na Mg Al Si P S Cl Ar
Period
4 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
K Ca Sc Ti V Cr Mn Fe Co Ni Cu Zn Ga Ge As Se Br Kr
5 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54
Rb Sr Y Zr Nb Mo Tc Ru Rh Pd Ag Cd In Sn Sb Te I Xe
6 55 56 * 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86
Cs Ba Lu Hf Ta W Re Os Ir Pt Au Hg Tl Pb Bi Po At Rn
7 87 88 * 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118
Fr Ra * Lr Rf Db Sg Bh Hs Mt Ds Rg Cn Nh Fl Mc Lv Ts Og
* 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70
La Ce Pr Nd Pm Sm Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Er Tm Yb
* 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102
* Ac Th Pa U Np Pu Am Cm Bk Cf Es Fm Md No
composites
Synthesis inorganic organic plastics
Characterization
atom molecules macromolecules
Manufacturing
Modeling
0D 1D 2D Bulk
Atoms can be arranged spatially in various ways. A Biomedical applications Wearable electronic devices
crystal, for example, is the result of arranging atoms made from flexible materials conform to skin or tis-
in a periodically repeating lattice. The silicon wafer sues and serve specific sensing or actuating func-
at the heart of the semiconductor industry is one tions. More specifically, wearable electronic devices
such crystal; more precisely, it’s a slice of a single or “e-skin” can sense external stimuli such as tem-
silicon crystal. perature and pressure and encode these stimuli into
electrical signals.1 For example, a “smart bandage”
Molecules, in turn, can be linked together into struc- with integrated sensors and simulators can acceler-
tures called macromolecules (see figure 4.2). These ate healing of chronic wounds by 25 percent.2
can occur naturally, such as proteins, DNAs, and
cellulose, or can be synthesized artificially, resulting Novel and recyclable plastics Researchers are
in polymers/plastics, for example. Plastics are par- developing new sustainable methods to couple
ticularly useful because the long chains of macro- molecules into polymers for deconstructable plas-
molecules are often more flexible. Research on new tics that are easier to recycle.3 New electrically con-
macromolecular structures can be used to develop ductive polymers are also a focus of study. Electrical
plastic materials that are easier to recycle or that hold conductivity in flexible materials such as plastics can
advantageous mechanical properties while weighing be achieved by inserting specific bonds between
less than metals. individual atoms that make up the material back-
bone. This allows for the fabrication of flexible elec-
tronic devices such as wearable sensors and foldable
screens for mobile devices.
04 Materials Science 57
The ultimate aspiration . . . is to be able to create
materials on demand by specification.
wind, in batteries. Therefore, designing batteries FIGURE 4.3 The size of nanoscale objects
with materials and architectures that enable quick
recharging and long stability while reducing costs in nanometers
10 –1
will be crucial. Important discoveries in engineer- H
O Water
ing battery electrode materials have been made.4 molecule
Studying the electrolyte-electrode interface in bat-
1 H
teries has also led to higher performing and more
stable electrolytes in batteries.5
Antibody
Nanoscale 10
Additive Manufacturing
One promising advance in materials processing over
the past fifteen years is additive manufacturing, or 102 Virus
3-D printing. A novel method termed continuous
liquid interface production (CLIP) has been estab-
lished that uses directed ultraviolet light to pattern 103 Bacterium
structures from a polymer resin.6
Some current applications of quantum dots include: Smart windows Silver nanowires arranged into a
thin film on a window become a transparent conduc-
Medical imaging Quantum dots are being used tive film rather than the familiar reflective mirror from
to improve the contrast of biomedical imaging, for silver behind the window. Running a current through
example, as in fluorescent markers to allow selective the film can then change the opacity of the window
labeling of biological structures in vitro and in vivo.10 electrically.19
Additionally, biocompatible nanomaterials can be
employed as optical probes to sense mechanical 2-D semiconductors, graphene, carbon nano-
forces and electrical fields in biological organisms, tubes, and nanoscale materials These are at the
thus circumventing specialized and bulky equip- forefront of the next generation of high-tech elec-
ment, opening the possibility of new experiments.11 tronic devices. Active research efforts are dedicated
04 Materials Science 59
to designing new methods to integrate 2-D or carbon comparison, the weight of all the concrete in New
nanotube semiconductors into electronics that are York City is around 750 million tons, according to the
currently silicon based to increase their energy effi- US Geological Survey.26 The Hoover Dam involves
ciency and heat management.20 about 10 million tons of concrete.
As with regulation in other areas of technology, con- Historically, the United States has led the world in
cerns arise about the appropriate balance between nanotechnology, but the gap between the United
04 Materials Science 61
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-the-mvps-of-the-nfl-playoffs.
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04 MATERIALS SCIENCE 63