The Future of Materials

The invention of synthetic plastics in 1907 gave way to a materials
 revolution which forever changed product design and manufacturing. 
How will new material advancements shape our future? 

            The largest materials advancements that we have had over the last 100 years have primarily been contributed to plastics. One of the first synthetic plastics, Bakelite invented in 1907 by Leo Baekeland, opened up new possibilities for molding and manufacturing products. The world has never been the same since. But the technologies and materials that will define tomorrow won’t simply be combinations of cross-linked or self-skinning polymers, they will have to be materials designed and developed from the atom up to produce unique characteristics and properties. These materials will be engineered on the nanoscale and custom tailored for specific applications.

Buckminster Fuller, a pioneer of geodesics has a Carbon 60 nano particle 

named after him due to its resemblance of his spheres and domes.

            Some of the first nano particles ever created were theorized long before their realization. The most notable example of this is the Bucky-ball a spherical Fullerene molecule with the formula Carbon 60 or C60. The molecule gets its name from one of the pioneers of Geodesics, Buckminster Fuller. C60 was first generated in 1985 by Harold Kroto (Buckminsterfullerene). While it has been around for a relatively long time compared to some of the other nano materials, no commercialized applications for C60 currently exist even though it has highly unique properties.

 Due to their extraordinary properties scientist believe 
Carbon Nano Tubes can be used to create an elevator to space.

            Similar to Bucyballs, Carbon Nano Tubes or CNTs are tube-like structures rather than spherical. Made from the same materials as Buckyballs, CNT’s exhibit properties that make them the strongest, lightest and most conductive material known (Carbon nanotube).  CNT’s are 200x the strength and offer 5x the elasticity of steel. CNT’s also offer 5x the electrical conductivity, 15x the thermal conductivity and 1,000 the current capacity of copper (Nanocomptech.com).  Because of their amazing strength to weight ratio it has been theorized that a possible application for CNT’s would be to build a space elevator capable of transporting payloads into space at a fraction of the cost of conventional rocket missions (Tyson). Other potential applications range from biomedical, electrical circuits, textiles and solar cells (Hollingham). 
 

Graphene is thin, strong, flexible and electrically 

conductive making applications nearly endless.

            Another revolutionary material is a 2D lattice composed of graphite, an allotrope of carbon (Coldewey). The material is called Graphene and it is currently the thinnest known material in the universe. While thin the material is measured at over 150x stronger than the second strongest recorded material. Oddly enough, Graphene is also flexible and can stretch over 120% its initial length (Colapinto). This rare combination of strength and flexibility make Graphene a natural choice for several future applications. Additionally Graphene is highly conductive and could lead to entirely new forms of flexible circuit boards. The number one limiting factor at this point is ability to manufacture and the proper application of the technology.  

            Combined all of these materials have the ability to forever change our technology and the way we lead our lives. Similar to the impact that the invention of plastics had on manufacturing, nano materials composed of carbon and graphite could entirely redefine our technology, energy and space exploration.

Resources: 

"Buckminsterfullerene." Wikipedia. Web. 9 Oct. 2015. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckminsterfullerene>. 

Tyson, Neil deGrasse. "The Space Elevator." <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnwZmWoymeI>. YouTube. YouTube, 3 Jul. 2007. Web. 9 Oct. 2015.

Hollingham, Richard. "Space elevators: Going up?” bbc.com. bbc.com, 18 Nov 2014. Web. 9 Oct 2015. <http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120817-space-elevators-going-up>.

"The strongest, lightest and most conductive material known.” nanocomptech.com. nanocomptech.com, Web. 9 Oct 2015. <http://www.nanocomptech.com/what-are-carbon-nanotubes>.

"Carbon nanotube." Wikipedia. Web. 9 Oct. 2015. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_nanotube>. 

Colapinto, John. "Material Question.” Newyorker.com. Newyorker.com, 22 Dec 2014. Web. 9 Oct 2015. < http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/12/22/material-question>.

Coldewey, Devin. " 'Wonder Material' Graphene Is Just Getting Started, Researchers Say.” Nbcnews.com. Nbcnews.com, 4 Nov 2014. Web. 9 Oct 2015. <http://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/wonder-material-graphene-just-getting-started-researchers-say-n236766>.