Materials science is the study of matter and how it applies to science and engineering. Scientists in the field examine the connection between the structure of materials at atomic or molecular scales and their macroscopic properties.
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The study of polymers -- a large class of natural and synthetic materials with a wide variety of properties -- is a large part of materials science. Here, a variety of polyethylene materials are used in the calibration and performance evaluation of instruments used in polymer research and manufacturing.
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German organic chemist Dr. Hermann Staudinger, seen here in 1960, was the founder of polymer chemistry.
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Here researchers from France's National Scientific and Technological Institute learn more about the effect of weathering on fiber-reinforced polymer composites that may be used in bridges and piers. The NIST's SPHERE (Simulated Photodegradation via High Energy Radiant Emission) accelerates outdoor weathering of test materials.
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This image shows what happened when University of Wisconsin, Madison, doctoral student Ye Jin "Jenna" Eun added water to a combination of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and polydimethylsiloxane. PEG wants to expand when it encounters water, but the stiffer polyethylene copolymer won't permit it. So PEG stretches vertically instead, creating the hills and valleys seen here.
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This image shows how Cornell Researchers are using the self-assembly of platinum nanoparticles through the use of ligands and polymers for structuring metals. Here, we see ligand-coated platinum nanoparticles (blue and gray balls) nestled among the block co-polymers (blue and green strands).
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Materials science has also been the driving force in the development of revolutionary semiconductors, which are materials that have the ability to conduct a small electrical current. Here, technicians work in the clean room of the Fab Equipment at a semiconductor company Renesas Technology Corporation in Ibaraki, Japan. Renesas was the first company in the world to produce semiconductor products from 300mm wafer.
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Silicon is the most commonly used material to create commercial semiconductors, especially microchips. This image shows two views of a silicon surface, one taken using a conventional scanning tunneling microscope (or STM), the other using the newly developed "color-filtered STM." Scanning tunneling microscopes yield atomic-scale landscapes of electronically conducting surfaces.
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Researchers at the National Science Foundation use controlled nucleation of silicon carbide nanowires on gallium catalyst particles to grow "nanotrees," a 3-D nanostructure. As the growth proceeds, individual nanowires "knit" together to form 3-D structures.
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Engineering professor Kenneth S. Vecchio of University of California, San Diego, developed a new type of metallic laminate expected to be as useful as armor, as well as a replacement for beryllium, a toxic metal commonly used in aerospace applications.
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This illustration shows nanostructured platinum arranged in a honeycomb-like pattern 1 million times smaller than those found in a beehive but still large enough to allow the transport of small molecules. With this production method, which was developed by Cornell University researchers, platinum nanoparticles automatically assemble into complex, ordered patterns.
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This image shows a colorized micrograph of a chip combining four micro-refrigerators (circled in red) with a superconducting sensor (large orange square in the middle). The self-cooling chip could be used for applications ranging from detailed X-ray analysis of semiconductors to detection of microwave signals in deep space.
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This detailed image from a scanning electron micrograph shows zinc oxide nanowires growing out of a circular copper substrate. The tips of some nanowires appear to have copper droplets.
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Here, we see a representation of a new cluster molecule of carbon, silicon and boron, which could be useful as a building block for larger supramolecules. Supramolecules can be built in long chains, or by adding on branches around a central core, or as LEGO blocks in larger geometric structures.
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National Institute of Science and Technology postdoctoral researcher James Chin-wen Chou stands with the world's most precise clock. The clock tells time based on the vibrations of a single aluminum ion (electrically charged atom), which is trapped inside the metal cylinder (center right).
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While polymers are used in molecular nanotechnology, it can be difficult to control their self-assembly. A technique using roughened substrates can be used to control the orientation of nanostructures. Here, silica nanoparticles (orange) cast onto silicon substrates (gray) create "tunable" substrates that can control self-assembly.
Image Credit: National Institute of Standards and Technology
During the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the developers worked to use energy-saving materials when possible. The high-efficiency polymer skin called ETFE that was built to insulate the "Water Cube" aquatics center uses NASA technology that was originally developed to insulate the space station.
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Polymers can also take on a slightly different form, like this Dyn-o-gel. The hydrated polymer powder can be used to contain the spread of wildfire. Here, Peter Cordani and J.D. Dutton produce this non-toxic, flame-retardant substance at their headquarters in Riviera Beach, Fla. According to the company, the material can fireproof unburned areas of forest without causing significant damage to the affected plant life.
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Materials science sometimes involves making sure metals like steel can support massive structures. Here, Brian Petersen stands near rows of bolts that hold a steel sheath on a column of the newly constructed eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in 2011.
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If you're a materials science junkie, you'll love the Atomium monument in Heysel Park in Brussels, Belgium. Its nine steel spheres connect so the sculpture is shaped like a unit cell of an iron crystal, as it would look if it were magnified 165 billion times. Visitors can reach the spheres by escalators to enjoy a view of Brussels.
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Bakelite was the world's first entirely synthetic material, and in 2007, the Science Museum in London held a celebration called "100 Years of Plastic" that coincided with the 100th anniversary of Bakelite's invention. This photo shows a sculpture made of layers of synthetic sheet materials such as carpet and vinyl.
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Bayer Material Science project leader Thomas Michaelis (right) and his team show off the Teamgeist ball in front of the manufacturing machine in Leverkusen, Germany, in 2006. Bayer created the surface for the ball using thermal bonding technology. The Teamgeist was the official ball for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.
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Here, Dr. Michael James from the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) plays with a "super mirror" before it is installed in the Platypus neutron reflectometer in Sydney, Australia, in 2006. Super mirrors like this one are used to bounce subatomic neutrons off the surface of liquids and other materials, helping to determine their structure. Scientists hoped that the findings could be used to help treat respiratory distress syndrome, a major cause of death in premature babies.
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Materials science can even include the development of synthetic blood. In this photo, quality-control technician Frank Pantaleon works on part of the development of the synthetic blood substitute PolyHeme at Northfield Labs in Illinois in 2006. PolyHeme is a human hemoglobin-based oxygen carrier.
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In 2004, South Korea admitted that it had produced uranium metal at undeclared sites but downplayed concerns about its controversial nuclear activities. Here, South Korean students look at a uranium display at the Seoul Science Research Institute in Seoul, South Korea, 2004.
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