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Smart Materials

Smart materials react to their environment by changing properties in response to stimuli like heat, light, or pressure. Examples include kettles that change color when boiling, garments that integrate with MP3 players, and batteries that indicate their charge level. These materials enable new product innovations. Smart plastics in particular allow intricate shapes to be molded for applications like engineering prototypes, jewelry, and grips. Nanoparticles are also used to develop novel "smart" materials with tailored properties by altering existing materials at the molecular level. However, long term safety research is still needed for some nanomaterials.

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Abilash murali
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36 views

Smart Materials

Smart materials react to their environment by changing properties in response to stimuli like heat, light, or pressure. Examples include kettles that change color when boiling, garments that integrate with MP3 players, and batteries that indicate their charge level. These materials enable new product innovations. Smart plastics in particular allow intricate shapes to be molded for applications like engineering prototypes, jewelry, and grips. Nanoparticles are also used to develop novel "smart" materials with tailored properties by altering existing materials at the molecular level. However, long term safety research is still needed for some nanomaterials.

Uploaded by

Abilash murali
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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We might not realise it, but smart materials are

starting to make a real impact on everyday life.

• Kettles that change colour when they boil


• Garments that plug into MP3 players
• Batteries that ‘report’ their condition

These are all examples of the application of new


materials exhibiting ‘smart’ behaviour.
You can get special materials that can change in
different conditions.
Smart materials react to their environment

• Smart materials change their properties in response


to heat, light, or something else (depending on the
material)
• They often change back to their original state when
the heat or light (or whatever else affects them) is
taken away
• Some smart materials can let you make totally new
products
Smart plastics do all sorts of cool stuff

• Polymorph (or polycaprolactone) is a type of smart plastic


used for making models to try out new designs
• Its low melting point (62˚) means it can be made mouldable
by immersing it in hot water
• If you overheat Polymorph you will ruin it
• Polymorph can be moulded and shaped by hand when warm,
or machined when cold
• When fully cooled, it is stiff and strong (a bit like HIPS)
Moulding plastic parts Completing complex
assemblies

Jewellery and
decorations

Creating
intricate shapes, For making
like this mask handles/grips
It’s not just ‘Silly Putty’,
this material has serious
engineering applications!

• Soft mouldable plastic


(like chewing gum)
• Instantly becomes a
rubber if impacted;
it bounces like a ball
• Can keep shape, stretch,
absorb shock and
deflect an applied load
Thermochromic pigments
change colour with heat

• Thermochromic pigments change back to their


original colour when they cool
• They can be used in paints to create images that
change when they get hot
• Thermochromic inks can be printed onto a range
of materials, such as plastic and paper
• Thermochromic films are sheets that have been
printed with thermochromic ink - you could use
them for displays that change colour when
touched
2D heat-sensitive
Interesting gimmicks!
temperature gauge
Changes colour when food is
too hot for a baby's mouth.

Smart inks change colour


with temperature

Useful for
marketing Has your egg been hot enough
materials for long enough?
Photochromic pigments
change colour in response to light

• Photochromic pigments change colour reversibly


in response to light
• They can be put into spectacle lenses to make
glasses that turn into sunglasses when it is sunny,
and used to make the glass in buildings more
energy efficient
• Photochromic inks can be used to print t-shirts
with designs that only show up in sunlight
Lenses become darker Glass changes from
with increased exposure transparent to
to UV light (sunlight) opaque as level of
light increase,
saving energy

MINI’s ‘Rainbow’ paint


options gives a rainbow
effect in bright
sunlight

Photochromic inks
Colour changing wristbands used to print t-shirt
indicate when sun cream needs designs that only
to be re-applied, or when it’s show up in sunlight
time to move into the shade
Phosphorescent pigments store light
and slowly release it, so they glow in
the dark.
dark

Fluorescent
pigments are really
bright because
they reflect lots
of light.
light As well as reflecting visible
light, they absorb UV light and
reflect it as extra visible light – this
is what makes them so bright.
Nanotechnology involves really, really, really,
really, really, tiny particles (nanoparticles)

• Nanoparticles include tiny crystals and tiny tubes


• Nanotechnology has produced a wide range of
clever ‘nanostructured’ materials because
nanoparticles change the properties of the
‘normal’ material
• Nanocomposites are made by combining
nanoparticles with existing materials
• Nanoparticles are used to make anti-vandal paint
(other paint won’t stick on top)
• Packaging materials can be made where the
minute gaps in the product’s structure are filled
with really tiny bits of ‘clay’ (nanoclays), making
them extra airtight so food and drink lasts longer
• A mixture of nanotubes and carbon-fibre are
used to make bike frames and tennis rackets that
are very strong but also very light
• Nanotechnology is used in cosmetics, sunscreens
and some medicines (nanomedicines)
• The use of nanotechnology is being developed to
produce more effective medicines (‘smart’ drugs)
Nanoparticles are so tiny, that
you could fit about a thousand of
them into the width of just one
of this dog’s hairs

Nanotubes combined
with carbon-fibre
are used to make
bike frames and
tennis rackets that
are extremely strong
and lightweight

Nano-silver has
powerful
antibacterial
Nanoparticles under a microscope properties
Nanomaterials have useful
properties, but some people
are worried about the safety
of nanotechnology – it is so
new that it is difficult to
know what the risks are.

They are worried that


nanoparticles might react
with body chemicals and
OR
cause harm, or cause damage
to the environment.

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