Developments in New Materials

• Modern materials


  • Concrete
  • Aluminium
  • Steel
  • Graphene
  • Titanium
  • Metal foam
  • Liquid crystal (display)
  • Nanomaterials
• Graphene

  100x stronger than steel
• Titanium


  High strength to weight ratio
• Metal foam

  25% metal. Strength of metal without the weight
• Nanomaterials


  1. 100 nm can be a thin film for hydrophobic or oleophobic (resistance to oil and grease) covering
• Shape-Memory Alloys (SMA)


  e.g. Nickel titanium (Nitinol)
• Quantum Tunneling Composite (QTC)

  Tiny particles of metal within rubber creating a current when pressure applied
• Ferro fluids


  Consistency affected by magnetic field
• Polymorph


  Malleable at 62°C yet hard enough to drill when cool
• Fibre-based composites


  • Glass-reinforced plastic (GRP)
  • Carbon reinforced plastic (CRP)
  • Glass-reinforced concrete (GRC)
• Particle-based composites


  • Concrete
  • Cermet (ceramic-metal)
• Sheet-based composites


  • MDF
  • Plywood
  • Chipboard
• Technical textiles


  • Conductive fabrics
  • Fire retardant fabrics
  • Kevlar microfibres
  • Microencapsulation
• Smart Materials

  • Shape-memory alloys
  • Thermochromic pigments
  • Photochromic pigments
  • Quantum tunnelling composite
  • Self-heating materials
  • Ferro fluids
  • Polymorph