MATERIALS CHEMISTRY
WARM UP
• do you know what you study in materials chemistry? you study …
a. what things are made of;
b. the chemical nature of materials;
c. new materials to improve existing products or make new ones;
d. all the above statements are correct.
What is materials chemistry?
It is the study of the properties and uses of the various materials1 that are employed in science and technology.
It is an interdisciplinary science that involves the use of chemistry for the creation and application of materials with useful physical or chemical characteristics. Materials chemistry includes solid-state chemistry, nanoscience, and polymer chemistry and the study of substances such as inorganic, organic, polymeric, and hybrid1 materials.
Applications of materials chemistry
Synthetic materials play a fundamental role in improving the quality of human life and standard of living. Materials chemistry is crucial to the development of new technology and is essential for solving the greatest environmental challenge of our time.
Materials scientists study and analyse the structure and chemical properties of many natural and man-made materials, such as metals, alloys, glass, rubber, ceramic and polymers.
The basis of materials science is studying the interaction between the structure of materials, the processing methods to make that material, and the resulting material properties.
The materials paradigm
The materials paradigm, also called the materials tetrahedron, is the basic principle of materials science. It has four points: processing, structure, properties and performance.
- Processing refers to the steps needed to create a material.
- Structure is the feature of a material. Structures can be large enough to see with the naked eye, or as small as atomic spacing. Some examples of structures include pores, precipitates, grain boundaries, grain orientation and crystal structure. Structure is often influenced by processing.
- Properties are the measurable characteristics of a material, such as hardness, elasticity, thermal and electrical conductivity, and density. Properties are determined by the structure of a material.
- Performance is how good a material is.
DO
1 Which of the following are substance (S)? And which are material (M)? Can you give more examples of both?
☐ asphalt
☐ diamonds
☐ paper
☐ salt
☐ sugar
☐ bricks
☐ gold
☐ plastic
☐ steel
☐ water
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1 Hybrid materials are composites consisting of two constituents – commonly one inorganic and the other organic – at the nanoscale or molecular level. Rubber is an example of the use of inorganic materials as fillers for organic polymers.
