Materials science

The intellectual origins of materials science stem from the Age of Enlightenment, when researchers began to use analytical thinking from chemistry, physics, and engineering to understand ancient, phenomenological observations in metallurgy and mineralogy.

Nanomaterials are the subject of intense research in the materials science community due to the unique properties that they exhibit.

Microstructure is defined as the structure of a prepared surface or thin foil of material as revealed by a microscope above 25× magnification.

It defines macroscopic variables, such as internal energy, entropy, and pressure, that partly describe a body of matter or radiation.

It forms the foundation to treat general phenomena in materials science and engineering, including chemical reactions, magnetism, polarizability, and elasticity.

Biomaterials can be derived either from nature or synthesized in a laboratory using a variety of chemical approaches using metallic components, polymers, bioceramics, or composite materials.

They are often intended or adapted for medical applications, such as biomedical devices which perform, augment, or replace a natural function.

For example, a construct with impregnated pharmaceutical products can be placed into the body, which permits the prolonged release of a drug over an extended period of time.

Semiconductors, metals, and ceramics are used today to form highly complex systems, such as integrated electronic circuits, optoelectronic devices, and magnetic and optical mass storage media.

Their electrical conductivities are very sensitive to the concentration of impurities, which allows the use of doping to achieve desirable electronic properties.

Metal (aluminum alloy) is relatively strong, is a good barrier to the diffusion of carbon dioxide, and is easily recycled.

At the high temperatures used to prepare glass, the material is a viscous liquid which solidifies into a disordered state upon cooling.

Scratch resistant Corning Gorilla Glass is a well-known example of the application of materials science to drastically improve the properties of common components.

The wear resistance of tools is derived from cemented carbides with the metal phase of cobalt and nickel typically added to modify properties.

[28] This process involves the strategic addition of second-phase particles within a ceramic matrix, optimizing their shape, size, and distribution to direct and control crack propagation.

This approach enhances fracture toughness, paving the way for the creation of advanced, high-performance ceramics in various industries.

Applications range from structural elements such as steel-reinforced concrete, to the thermal insulating tiles, which play a key and integral role in NASA's Space Shuttle thermal protection system, which is used to protect the surface of the shuttle from the heat of re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere.

One example is reinforced Carbon-Carbon (RCC), the light gray material, which withstands re-entry temperatures up to 1,510 °C (2,750 °F) and protects the Space Shuttle's wing leading edges and nose cap.

[30] RCC is a laminated composite material made from graphite rayon cloth and impregnated with a phenolic resin.

These plastic casings are usually a composite material made up of a thermoplastic matrix such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) in which calcium carbonate chalk, talc, glass fibers or carbon fibers have been added for added strength, bulk, or electrostatic dispersion.

Plastics in former and in current widespread use include polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polystyrene, nylons, polyesters, acrylics, polyurethanes, and polycarbonates.

It lends itself to a vast array of applications, from artificial leather to electrical insulation and cabling, packaging, and containers.

Specialty plastics are materials with unique characteristics, such as ultra-high strength, electrical conductivity, electro-fluorescence, high thermal stability, etc.

In contrast, certain metal alloys exhibit unique properties where their size and density remain unchanged across a range of temperatures.

Due to the chemical reactivity of these metals, the electrolytic extraction processes required were only developed relatively recently.

[34] These materials are ideal for situations where high strength to weight ratios are more important than bulk cost, such as in the aerospace industry and certain automotive engineering applications.

[35] Its electronic properties can be greatly altered through intentionally introducing impurities in a process referred to as doping.

These superior properties are compelling reasons to use GaAs circuitry in mobile phones, satellite communications, microwave point-to-point links and higher frequency radar systems.

Conversely, fields such as life sciences and archaeology can inspire the development of new materials and processes, in bioinspired and paleoinspired approaches.

Conversely, many physicists, chemists and engineers find themselves working in materials science due to the significant overlaps between the fields.