Introduction to Advance Materials

6 58

Written by

Let's share our thoughts to stop overthinking😊

4 years ago

In community: Learner's Community(b5b5)

Today, as life welcomed the modernization, lots of production is continuously aiming to be on top global trend and to have a most reliable and productive equipment’s and machineries. Mainly we are concerned with the materials that are to become part of a device or structure or product, to discover, analyze and understand the nature of materials, to provide coherent explanations of the origin of the properties that are used, and to develop, prepare, and apply materials for specified need. We tend to invest more on production of materials in greater quantities, with less cost and is with good quality. As the world approaches to a modern industrialized society, increase in the extravagance use of materials has been the challenge to us. We use more materials than ever before, and we use them up faster. Materials being so ubiquitous and so important to man’s life and welfare, that without it man can do nothing, being the most necessary thing in people's doings, it has been postulated that with the current trends in world production and population growth, the materials requirements for the following decades would be more than the amount you could expect it to be.

The enlarged consumption of materials will forced mankind to enlarge its resource base by finding ways to employ existing raw materials more efficiently, to recycle waste materials and make them reusable, to convert previously unusable substances to useful materials, and to produce wholly new materials out of substances which are available in abundance. This means that we will have to cope increasingly with natural-resource and supply problems. The current trend is to look beyond the well-defined categories of materials such as metals, polymers, and ceramics. We look for materials that could offer the prospect of better life-cycle performance and other gains, produces equipment reliability and maintenance practices for better returns on capital investment. That is why manufacturing engineers and researchers, business executives, and economic and policy analysts are continuously developing advance in materials for over 30 years, typically traditional materials whose properties have been enhanced and also newly developed, high-performance materials. With this current trend people got to think of rapid product realization techniques to speed delivery to the marketplace, intelligent manufacturing control for improved reliability and greater precision, and building a workforce with the multidisciplinary skills needed for competitiveness.

To maintain competitiveness in the emerging global economy, we claim to a high level of materials civilization with extravagant utilization of a rich diversity of materials, we continuously search for a new field in the sciences that needs further research which could hold the future of mankind, we continuously search for advanced materials.

Advanced materials being the materials with engineered properties created through the development of specialized processing and synthesis technology, including ceramics, high value-added metals, electronic materials, composites, polymers and biomaterials, has been developing, formulating and manufacturing advanced alloys, coatings, lubricants, refrigerants, surfactants, emulsifiers or substrates. Having a concise and well-organized analysis of new research directions is a big help in improving advance materials for its future growth demand.

WHAT IS A MATERIAL?

 Refers to a physical object, as opposed to something spiritual or mental, or something that is essential and relevant.

-Your Dictionary

 A type of physical thing, such as wood, stone or plastic, having qualities that allow it to be used to make other things.

-Cambridge Dictionary

 Can be classified into four main groups.

This materials were engineered and undergone different development of specialized process and synthesize technology to become an advanced material.

WHAT IS AN ADVANCED MATERIAL?

Advanced materials are the materials with engineered properties created through the development of specialized processing and synthesis technology, including ceramics, high value-added metals, electronic materials, composites, polymers and biomaterials. This means developing, formulating or manufacturing advanced alloys, coatings, lubricants, refrigerants, surfactants, emulsifiers or substrates and has numerous application in the manufacturing and medical industries.

Advanced material have different types and below are some of it:

1) SEMICONDUCTOR

2) BIO-MATERIALS

3) SMART MATERIALS

4) NANO-ENGINEERED MATERIALS

SEMICODUCTOR

Any of a class of solids whose electrical conductivity is between that of a conductor and that of an insulator in being nearly as great as that of a metal at high temperatures and nearly absent at low temperatures. It is a material or object that allows some electricity or heat to move through it and that is used especially in electronic devices.

TYPES OF SEMICONDUCTOR

 Intrinsic material

An intrinsic type of semiconductor material made to be very pure chemically. As a result, it possesses a very low conductivity level having very few number of charge carriers, namely holes and electrons, which it possesses in equal quantities.

 Extrinsic material

Extrinsic types of semiconductor are those where a small amount of impurity has been added to the basic intrinsic material. This 'doping' uses an element from a different periodic table group and in this way it will either have more or less electrons in the valence band than the semiconductor itself.

This creates either an excess or shortage of electrons. In this way two types of semiconductor are available: Electrons are negatively charged carriers.

 N-type

An N-type semiconductor material has an excess of electrons. In this way, free electrons are available within the lattices and their overall movement in one direction under the influence of a potential difference results in an electric current flow. This in an N-type semiconductor, the charge carriers are electrons.

 P-type

In a P-type semiconductor material there is a shortage of electrons, i.e. there are 'holes' in the crystal lattice. Electrons may move from one empty position to another and in this case it can be considered that the holes are moving. This can happen under the influence of a potential difference and the holes can be seen to flow in one direction resulting in an electric current flow. It is actually harder for holes to move than for free electrons to move and therefore the mobility of holes is less than that of free electrons. Holes are positively charged carriers.

BIO-MATERIALS

Materials that are produced by living organisms, such as blood, bone, proteins, muscle and other organic materials. Are materials which are created specifically to be used for biological applications. (e.g. bone replacement, skin replacement, membranes for dialysis, artificial limbs, etc.)

SMART MATERIALS

Also called as “intelligent or responsive materials”, are designed materials that have one or more properties that can be significantly changed in a controlled fashion by external stimuli, such as stress and moisture. Have the potential to improve existing technology and add new functionality to products. They have application in a wide variety of areas and could have an important role in waste reduction.

NANO-ENGINEERED MATERIALS

Materials or chemical substances that are manufactured and used at a very small scale. A material of which a single unit small sized (in at least one dimension) between 1 to 100 nm measured in Kelvin.

WHAT ARE THE PROPERTIES OF ADVANCE MATERIALS?

 PHYSICAL PROPERTIES

Physical properties of a material are those which can be observed without change of identity of material.

 MECHANICAL PROPERTIES

Mechanical properties of a material helps us to measure how materials behave under load. In order to achieve optimal system performance, mechanical properties include the following:

Mechanical properties of a material reflect relationship between its response to and deformation from an applied load or force. Properties of materials that find out its behavior under applied force are called mechanical properties.

 THERMAL PROPERTIES

Thermal properties are those properties of a material which is related to its conductivity of heat. In other words, this are properties which are exhibited by a material when the heat is passed through it. Thermal properties come under the broader topic of physical properties of a material.

The major components of thermal properties are:

Heat Capacity of a material can be defined as the amount of heat required to change the temperature of a material by one degree.

Thermal Expansion is the ability of a material to expand when heated.

Thermal Conductivity is the property of a material to conduct heat through itself. Materials with high thermal conductivity will conduct more heat than the ones with low conductivity.

Thermal Stress is a stress experienced by a body due to either thermal expansion or contraction.

 MAGNETIC PROPERTIES

Magnetic properties of a material are those which determine the ability of a material for particular magnetic application.

Hysteresis is a rising temperature at which given material ceases to be ferromagnetic, or falling temperature at which it becomes magnetic.

Coercive Force is defined as magnetizing force which is essential to neutralize completely magnetism in an electromagnet after value of magnetizing force become zero.

Permeability is a property of magnetic material which indicates how easily magnetic flux is build up in material

 ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES

Electrical properties are their ability to conduct electrical current. Some of electrical properties of a material are the following:

Electrical Resistivity is a property of material which resists flow of electric current through material. It is give-and-take of conductivity. Resistivity values are reported in micro ohm centimeters units. As mentioned above resistivity values are simple give and take of conductivity.

Electrical Conductivity is a property of a material which allow flow of electric current through material. It is a parameter which indicates how easily an electric current can flow through material.

Dielectric Property is a property of a material which indicates ability of material to withstand at high voltages. Usually, it is specified for insulating material to represent their operating voltage.

Temperature Coefficient of Resistance of material indicates change in resistance of material with change in temperature.

Thermoelectricity is an effect that forms basis of operation of thermocouples and some temperature based transducers. This can be used to generate electricity, to measure temperature and to measure change in temperature of objects.

 CHEMICAL PROPERTIES

Chemical properties related to changes in chemical composition of material because it interacts with other substances. Chemical properties of materials are needed because most of materials, when they come in contact with other substances can react to form new materials. It is deterioration of materials by chemical reaction with its environment.

This chemical properties includes the following:

ADVANTAGES OF ADVANCED MATERIALS

 It brings a lot of opportunities

 It adds value to your company

 It develops knowledge your global competitor does not have

 It develops experience in working with advanced materials to lead your customers

 It adds value to your products – improved tool life

MATERIAL PROCESSING

Material processing is the series of steps that converts a starting material into useful form with controlled structural features and properties. It involves a complex series of chemical, thermal, and physical processes that prepare a starting material, create a shape, retain that shape, and refine the structure and shape.

The goal of materials processing is to develop the structural features (e.g., crystal structure, microstructure, size, and shape) needed for the product to perform well in its intended application. Material processing is central to the field of materials science and engineering, and is a vital step in manufacturing.

The conversion of the starting material to the final product occurs in three steps:

1. Preparation of the starting material

The primary purpose of material preparation is to convert it into an appropriate size and shape. This typically involves size reduction, debarking, chipping and screening.

2. Processing operation

It is a method, system or other treatment designed to change the physical form or chemical content of solid waste and includes all aspects of its management.

3. Post-processing operation

It involves complex procedures up to material handling storage and distribution.

CONCLUSION

Advanced materials are a relatively new field in the sciences that needs further research in order to fully understand. It serves as a future that could hold the humanity but also a way to our destruction; basically, it holds the future of mankind. With more research, advanced materials can be more comfortable and portable to access at the same time for the progress of humanity.