7 of the most fascinating and powerful materials science

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <blockquote id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405846529423_16442" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; line-height: 15.859999656677246px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 4px;" type="cite"> <blockquote id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405846529423_16441" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px 0px 0px 4px;" type="cite"> <div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405846529423_16440" style="line-height: 1.22em;"> <div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405846529423_16439" style="line-height: 1.22em;"> <div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405846529423_16438" style="line-height: 1.22em;"> <div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405846529423_16437" style="line-height: 1.22em;"> <div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405846529423_16436" style="line-height: 1.22em;"> <div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405846529423_16435" style="line-height: 1.22em;"> <div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405846529423_16434" style="line-height: 1.22em;"> <div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405846529423_16433" style="line-height: 1.22em;"> <div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405846529423_16432" style="line-height: 1.22em;"> <div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405846529423_16431" style="line-height: 1.22em;"> <div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405846529423_16430" style="line-height: 1.22em;"> <div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405846529423_16429" style="line-height: 1.22em;"> We often hear of new technological improvements - robots, gadgets, phones, vehicles, medicine and more. <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />But these are just part of the picture of scientific achievement. No less important is the field of chemical engineering, <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />which has invented some amazing materials in recent years, materials that may forever change our lives. <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" /><br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" /><b id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405846529423_16457" style="line-height: 1.22em;">These are 7 of the most fascinating and powerful materials science has come up with in recent years.</b> <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" /><b style="line-height: 1.22em;">1. Aerogel </b><span style="line-height: 1.22em;"><img alt="futuristic materials" height="236" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405846529423_16450" src="https://us-mg6.mail.yahoo.com/ya/download?mid=2%5f0%5f0%5f28%5f5035%5fAE2ti2IAABPwU8Uc8AAAAPpvpSs&pid=7&fid=Funonthenet&inline=1&appid=yahoomail" style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.22em;" width="468" /></span><br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />Aerogel is the proud holder of 15 mentions in the Guinness Book of Records, which is more than any material has ever had. <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />Also known as the 'frozen smoke', a nickname resulting looking like solid smoke, aerogel is actually 99.8% empty space, <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />which explains its semi-transparent look. This material is a terrific insulator. <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />With a shield made from aerogel, you could challenge any flamethrower without danger - it will take it without you feeling a <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />thing. It does the same with cold. With enough of it, you could build a comfortable house on the moon. <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />Another amazing factoid - an inch of aerogel could have an internal structure so complex that an inch long piece <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />could have a surface area as long as football field. <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" /><br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" /><br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" /><b style="line-height: 1.22em;">2. Carbon nanotubes <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" /></b><span style="line-height: 1.22em;"><img alt="futuristic materials" height="318" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405846529423_16454" src="https://us-mg6.mail.yahoo.com/ya/download?mid=2%5f0%5f0%5f28%5f5035%5fAE2ti2IAABPwU8Uc8AAAAPpvpSs&pid=3&fid=Funonthenet&inline=1&appid=yahoomail" style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.22em;" width="537" /></span><br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />Imagine long chains of carbon, these super-structures are bonded together by the greatest power in all of the chemical world, <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />the sp2 bond. These carbon nanotubes have been constructed with length-to-diameter ratio of up to 132,000,000:1, <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />significantly larger than for any other material. <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />This means they are exceptionally strong, and in fact, may be the only material humanity will be able to use to construct <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />the 'space elevator' that will cart people and cargo up and down from space stations hovering above the earth. <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />Carbon nanotubes are 300 times stronger than steel, meaning you could potentially build towers hundreds of kilometers tall <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />(or thousands of feet).<br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" /><br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" /><br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" /><b style="line-height: 1.22em;">3. Metamaterials </b><span style="line-height: 1.22em;"><img alt="futuristic materials" height="559" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405846529423_16455" src="https://us-mg6.mail.yahoo.com/ya/download?mid=2%5f0%5f0%5f28%5f5035%5fAE2ti2IAABPwU8Uc8AAAAPpvpSs&pid=5&fid=Funonthenet&inline=1&appid=yahoomail" style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.22em;" width="700" /></span><br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />Metamaterials are artificial materials engineered to have properties that may not be found in nature. They are assemblies of multiple <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />individual elements fashioned from conventional microscopic materials such as metals or plastics, but the materials are usually <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />arranged in periodic patterns. Metamaterials gain their properties not from their composition, but from their exactingly-designed <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />structures. Their precise shape, geometry, size, orientation and arrangement can affect the waves of light or sound in an unconventional <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />manner, creating material properties which are unachievable with conventional materials.<br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />These metamaterials achieve desired effects by incorporating structural elements of sub-wavelength sizes, i.e. features that are actually <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />smaller than the wavelength of the waves they affect. The primary research in metamaterials investigates materials with negative <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />refractive index. Negative refractive index materials appear to permit the creation of super lenses which can have a spatial resolution <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />below that of the wavelength. In other words - it makes invisibility cloaks. <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" /><br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" /><br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" /><b style="line-height: 1.22em;">4. Nano-Diamond <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" /></b><span style="line-height: 1.22em;"><img alt="futuristic materials" height="306" src="https://us-mg6.mail.yahoo.com/ya/download?mid=2%5f0%5f0%5f28%5f5035%5fAE2ti2IAABPwU8Uc8AAAAPpvpSs&pid=4&fid=Funonthenet&inline=1&appid=yahoomail" style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.22em;" width="500" /></span><br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />Nanodiamond was convincingly demonstrated to be produced by compression of graphite in 2003 and in the same work found to be much <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />harder than bulk diamond, which makes it the hardest known material, while also being incredibly strong, light, and made of the most <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />common element you can find - carbon. It is an amazing heat conductor and has the highest melting point of all materials. Machines built <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />with this material would be lighter, stronger and more powerful than anything we have today.<br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" /><br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" /><br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" /><br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" /><b style="line-height: 1.22em;">5. Amorphous metal <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" /></b><span style="line-height: 1.22em;"><img alt="futuristic materials" height="353" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405846529423_16458" src="https://us-mg6.mail.yahoo.com/ya/download?mid=2%5f0%5f0%5f28%5f5035%5fAE2ti2IAABPwU8Uc8AAAAPpvpSs&pid=2&fid=Funonthenet&inline=1&appid=yahoomail" style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.22em;" width="560" /></span><br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />By cooling molten metal quickly before it has time to re-align its particles in a solid shape, we can created amorphous metals - <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />metals that have a disorganized atomic structure. Due to this structure anomaly, they are twice as strong as steel, and a few <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />armies are considering using them for shields. In addition to their strength, amorphous metals have improved electricity conductivity <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />and can improve the efficiency of a power grid by up to 40%, saving a huge amount of energy and the burning of fossil fuels.<br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" /><br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" /><br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" /><b style="line-height: 1.22em;">6. Transparent Alumina <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" /></b><span style="line-height: 1.22em;"><img alt="futuristic materials" height="302" src="https://us-mg6.mail.yahoo.com/ya/download?mid=2%5f0%5f0%5f28%5f5035%5fAE2ti2IAABPwU8Uc8AAAAPpvpSs&pid=8&fid=Funonthenet&inline=1&appid=yahoomail" style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.22em;" width="420" /></span><br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />This material is 3 times as strong as steel, while being transparent. There are so many applications for this that the mind boggles. <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />Imagine buildings made of transparent, stronger steel. It will reduce visual pollution in the cities. Many structures that stand alone <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />could be invisible (with just a little opaqueness so we know they are there of course). <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" /><br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" /><br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />7. E-textiles <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" /><span style="line-height: 1.22em;"><img alt="futuristic materials" height="498" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405846529423_16459" src="https://us-mg6.mail.yahoo.com/ya/download?mid=2%5f0%5f0%5f28%5f5035%5fAE2ti2IAABPwU8Uc8AAAAPpvpSs&pid=6&fid=Funonthenet&inline=1&appid=yahoomail" style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.22em;" width="560" /></span><br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />In about 10 years, you and everyone you know will probably know all about E-textiles. In fact, you'll be covered with them. <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />Why carry our cell phones around when we can just wear them? Clothes in the future will be embedded with these tiny <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />E-Textiles (already existing today) that can monitor our health, project videos, make phone calls and bring up information <br clear="none" style="line-height: 1.22em;" />from the Internet when we need it. The possibilities are endless. </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </blockquote> </blockquote> </div>

7 of the most fascinating and powerful materials science

We often hear of new technological improvements - robots, gadgets, phones, vehicles, medicine and more.  But these are just p...

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