Achievements in Materials Science

By manipulating and exploiting such properties, chemical engineers are able

to develop and fabricate an ever-expanding array of desirable, imaginative,
and revolutionary new end products.

INTERCONNECTEDNESS
Materials science is one of the broadest and most active areas in chemical
engineering. It involves the discovery, evaluation, and manipulation of useful
properties in different substances. The outcome is an expanding array of
materials that feature unique characteristics used for the development and
fabrication of revolutionary new products.

Chemical Engineering explores the processing of materials and the production or

utilization of energy through chemical reactions.

Materials Science and Engineering studies material properties and applies

knowledge to developing new materals.

Chemical engineering explores the processing of materials and the production or

utilization of energy through chemical and biochemical reactions. Many products that we
use every single day are made by chemical engineers who use raw materials and turn
them into something useful. Chemical engineers play a key role in producing antibiotics,
soft drinks, and even make-up. There are also many chemical engineers who work with
petroleum and plastics. Chemical engineers work at finding solutions to environmental
hazards, such as pollution and harmful chemicals. Graduates typically work in the
chemical processing industry, biotechnology, environmental remediation, food
processing, pharmaceuticals, and plastics.

High-performance materials
Chemical engineers are developing advanced materials with superior
properties that allow for successful performance under increasingly punishing
operating conditions. Initially created to respond to the challenges of space
travel, many impressive advances have been made using materials from each
of the major material classes—plastics, ceramics, and metals. [1]
How small can you go?
Chemical engineers design experiments involving nanotubes in order to
improve the materials used in space-system architectures and thus help
advance our exploration of outer space and other applications. Photo courtesy
Aerospace Corporation.

The field of nanotechnology - one of the newer areas of materials science—

makes use of the functional advantages that many materials demonstrate
when they are produced in extremely small particle sizes. The prefix nano
itself refers to a billionth (10-9), and in nanotechnology the basic unit of
measurement is a nanometer, which is one-billionth of one meter.

A growing number of nanoscale materials and nanotechnology-related

manufacturing techniques are already being used to:

 Produce advanced composite materials that have such improved

properties as electroconductivity, catalytic activity, hardness, scratch
resistance, and self-cleaning capabilities;
 Produce consumer products, such as cosmetics and sunscreens, that
have improved aesthetic appeal and effectiveness;
 Improve the performance of compact, ultra-sensitive sensors and other
analytical devices used for detecting disease, monitoring food quality,
and assessing environmental, radiological, biological, and nuclear
hazards; and
 Enable such medical advances as nanoscale drug-delivery particles that
allow for the earlier diagnosis and improved treatment of cancer and
other diseases.

Metals
Advanced metal alloys based on aluminum, magnesium, and titanium, which
provide greater structural strength at reduced weight, are used for aircraft and
spacecraft applications as well as prosthetics and artificial joints. Stainless
steel is found in industrial processing equipment and surgical instruments
that must resist corrosion under harsh operating conditions.

Chemical engineers are also pioneering significant advances in metal matrix

composites, which are combinations of one or more nonferrous metals with
carbon particles or ceramics dispersed throughout the metal matrix. These
new materials exhibit improved structural strength, wear resistance, and
thermal conductivity. 

References

[1] https://www.aiche.org/community/students/career-resources-k-12-
students-parents/what-do-chemical-engineers-do/materials-science/frontiers

FUTURE DEVELOPMENT

Sustainable Construction Materials (housing)

In the future we will see more energy-efficient homes that use intelligent materials and intelligent
designs. As an example, the Institute of Solar Energy Systems in Freiburg, Germany discovered a means
to integrate the temperature-equalizing effect of thick walls within a millimeter thin layer of plaster.32
The material contains microencapsulated paraffin. When summer temperatures inside the building rise
above 24°C, the encapsulated paraffin in the wall begins to melt. This draws off the heat in the room,
preventing the indoor temperature from rising. At night when the temperature falls, the paraffin
solidifies and releases the stored heat (see Figure 9). The impact on energy savings, reduction of
pollutants, etc. is significant. The premise is that much more needs to be done in this whole arena of
intelligent materials that are green and energy efficient—a fertile area for MSE discoveries and
innovations.
A good example is a material made by Metabolix of Cambridge, Massachusetts, which is a semi-
crystalline thermoplastic polymer. These natural plastics range in properties from stiff thermoplastics
suitable for molded goods to highly elastic grades to grades suitable for adhesives and coatings. When
exposed to microbial organisms the natural plastic breaks down enzymatically and decomposes.41 In
terms of future opportunities, the MSE community can play an important role in developing such novel
materials for packaging applications and ultimately reduce waste and protect the environment.

Future materials will certainly include innovative material uses such as recyclable composites and bio-
composites. The hybrid-electric Model U developed by Ford makes extensive use of recyclable
composites (see Figure 8a). Corn-based materials are used in the interior roof fabric and floor matting,
while soy and corn-derived resins replace carbon black in the tires. The synthetic polyester used to cover
seats and door panels can also be recycled back to polyester.29 Underbody components previously
manufactured from glass-fiber-reinforced composites are now being replaced by bio-composites such as
flax and polypropylene, as shown in Figure 8b for the Mercedes Class A autos. Duralin fibers (made by
Ceres in the Netherlands) are produced when flax straw is steamed, dried, and cured.30 The modern
door inner trim panels shown in Figure 8c are molded using mats of 60% natural fiber in a Baypreg®
polyurethane resin.31 Strong and lightweight materials, sustainability, and material recyclability will be
some of the major factors influencing the development of future materials for our transportation needs,
including, of course, the future material developments discussed previously for energy usage