Scientific Materials

Even the most seemingly humble and unassuming artifacts of the physical world that surrounds us can potentially be reinterpreted and newly implemented as valuable science materials. Researchers are increasingly discovering sources for scientific materials among apparently trivial objects that have not been subject to overt refinement or synthesizing processes. A new approach in forming science materials has been looking into these questions, which as a field are known collectively as materials science. At new centers and through new experiments based on this approach, researchers are working to bring insights from the comparatively abstract fields of physics, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and computer science to bring to bear on the properties and uses of known scientific materials and in some cases further their uses or even formulate new materials. This approach to discovering and working on science materials is likely to play an important role in forthcoming research projects, and as such should be known to individuals involved in work with scientific materials or engaged in businesses that are dependent on those available.

One of the more high-profile implementations of materials science to take place in early 2010 has involved the studying of alloy properties aboard the International Space Station and later during reentry to the Earth’s atmosphere. The scientific materials in question consisted of an aluminum silicon alloy which, under supervision from mission control on the ground, was melted and then returned to solidity during the passage through the Earth’s atmosphere. Later, the science materials were submitted to testing on the International Space Station’s Materials Science Laboratory. This stage of the experimentation on the scientific materials was designed to place it under conditions of microgravity, allowing researchers to gather data on the chemical and physical properties of the science materials.
Closer to Earth, the Center for Materials Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute for Technology have been looking at an altogether common object of daily life in terms of highly sophisticated scientific materials: spiderweb. The strength of this material, not usually grouped into the category of science materials, is well-known and has led to its use in a variety of human functions, such as the creation of garments. A computer model created by researchers treats strands of spider silk as scientific materials in examining it to uncover how the basic components of the material interact with each other. By understanding how naturally-created spider silk can attain a high degree of flexibility and strength, it is hoped by researchers, can point the way to development of artificial science materials based on the same principles and manifesting the same strengths. The research thus far on this question has arrived at potentially useful insights into the performance of the hydrogen bonds that unite the spider silk on a chemical level. In such surprising and informative ways as this, proponents of funding for and work in Materials Science promise that the school of thought can deliver substantive scientific results, joining together the virtues of abstract conceptualization of basic physical properties and practical implementation.