Materials Science and Engineering By: Jake Burden

What is Materials Science and Engineering?  The Engineering field that deals with researching, producing, and testing new materials for a wide range of uses.  Some things that involve MSE: Airplane materials, Engines, Golf clubs, Automobiles, and Computer chips.

What is the Goal of MSE?  To create products that meet a chemical, electrical, and physical need.  “To create the stuff we need”

MSE Tetrahedron Shows how one aspect of a material affects the rest of the properties. If the structure is altered, the properties, characterization of atoms, processing, and performance will ALL be altered Illustrates all of the aspects of a material that the engineer should look out for.

How to Become a Materials Scientist?  Minimum education- Bachelors Degree in ABET- certified MSE program  Pass series of engineering tests  FE exam- Fundamentals of Engineering  PE exam- Professional Engineering

Main Areas of MSE  1. Ceramics  2. Polymers- “Plastics”  3. Metallurgy  4. Biomaterials- Stents and artificial joints

Ceramics  Material that is not metallic nor organic  Hard, chemically non-reactive, and can be molded/ formed using heat.  Examples: Space shuttle tiles, fiber optics, body armor, and spark plugs.  Ceramics are more than typical pottery, and tiles.

Ceramics  Due to semiconducting, superconducting, and ferroelectric properties of some ceramic materials, they can be associated with electronics.  “Mag-Lev” trains involve ceramics with superconducting properties.  Superconductor ( material that has no electrical resistance to an already current flow  very efficient) exposed to low temperatures of liquid nitrogen, creates levitating force.  This levitating force is due to the ceramics ability to repel both magnetic fields.

Polymers  Long strands of molecules, strung together  Made up of smaller units called monomers  How the strands are connected determines the properties of that material  Examples of polymer engineering– plastics, nylon, and synthetic rubber  Polymer engineer’s job  chemically synthesize polymers to meet the needs of the consumer.  Thermoplastics and thermosets—important in this field  Thermoplastics- Plastics that melt above a certain temperature  Used as food storage containers--due to relative melting point  Intermolecular forces weaken in presence of increased heat

Polymers  Thermoset- Petrochemical material that cures (hardens) permanently after the addition of heat.  Opposite of thermoplastics  “molds”  The curing does not always need heat  sometimes uses chemical reaction  Examples: Epoxies, Phenolics

Metallurgy  Branch of MSE that mainly deals with alloys; their chemical and physical properties.  How alloys can benefit our society?  How to create cheap and durable metals?

Metallurgy  How does metallurgy exactly work?  Engineers take properties of one metal and combine them with another metal  The Engineers use the atomic properties of each metal to determine its uses  Example: Stainless Steel  Non-corrosive, no rusting, shiny  How do those properties come about?

Metallurgy  Stainless steel is usually Chromium and Nickel combined  Nickel provides non-corrosive properties while Chromium provides the shine.  The Chromium provides a layer to the steel that prevents the metal from oxidizing  Makes it harder to give up electrons to change its composition

Metallurgy  The way the atoms are organized in an element= specific properties  All metals/ elements have special properties; it is the materials scientist’s job to combine those properties effectively and properly to create the metal alloys we use today.

Biomaterials  Using Materials science to create materials to improve/ aid the biological processes of the human body  Includes  Stents  Artificial Joints  Artificial organs  Contact lenses  Artificial Heart Valves

Biomaterials  Stents: Inserted in the arteries to prevent blockage from plaque that could cause heart failure  They consist of metallic alloys that help keep open the arteries and naturally dissolve in the bloodstream over time.  Once the artery is trained to stay open, the soluble contents will dissolve in the blood  Dissolvable stent- Absorb™  Revolutionizing the medical field

Biomaterials  Contact lenses:  Involve polymers  The attraction of the hydrophilic polymer to the eye helps keep it in place.  The thickness of the polymer determines the amount of light that can be refracted therefore determining the amount of visual correction.  The polymer of the contact lens is also antimicrobial and gentle on the eye  Not only does the engineer develop the lens but also the solution.  Peroxide solutions use a neutralization reaction to kill microbes on the lens  Peroxide is not friendly on the eye so…  A silver catalyst is used in the lens case to neutralize the solution  reduces peroxide to form oxygen and water  This makes the contact lens “wearable” to the eye

Biomaterials  Materials scientists involved with biomaterials study how to create materials that can benefit our lives, physically.  Make sure medical materials are safe

In Conclusion  MSE has new and upcoming research in nanotechnology and electronics.  MSE is a fairly “uncommon” field of engineering  It is very beneficial to our society; creating more and more things to make our lives better.  MSE is a great field to get involved in! The possibilities are endless!