SA.3 New Materials Flashcards
Modern mats: Graphene
Signle layer of carbon atoms in hexagonal lattice. Thinnest known material to date. Extremely strong, light & conductive
Uses: sports equip, cooling tech in phones
Modern mats: Metal foam
Cellular structure made up from metal containing gas filled pores. Strong. Resists deformation & can be made into complex shapes. Heat res & sound absorption
Modern mats: Liquid crystal display (LCD)
Displays sa TVs, contain matrix of pixels to display an image on screen. Varying colours
Modern mats: Coated metals
Protect metal. More durable, reduce wear & tear. Unprotected ferrous metal liable to rust & corrosion from exposure to env.
Eg. Teflon, galvanising, anodising
Modern mats: Titanium
Found in earth’s crust. Used in form of alloy. High strength, lightweight, corrosion res.
Uses: missiles, aircrafts, doesnt react w human tissue so used for artificial joints
Modern mats: Nanomaterials
Made at a very small scale, tiny particles. Adds lightness, tensile strenght & rigidity to products
Uses: medicine, add properties to textiles making them res to bacteria
10^-9
Smart mats: Polymorph
Polymer that can be shaped & reshaped many times. When warmed to 62dc, becomes flexible easy to mould. Sets as it cools
Uses: mouldings
Smart mats: Shape memory alloy (SMA)
Revert back to og shape after deformed by heat. Super elasticity
Uses: nitinol, used in braces
Smart mats: Quantum tunnelling composite (QTC)
Flexible polymer, when squeezed, pressure forces particles tg & current of electrons flow between particles. (Process of electrons jumping across gap from one conducting mat to another is Quantum tunnelling)
Uses: touch sensitive pads
Smart mats: Thermochromic materials
Temperature sensitive. Change colour at certain temps
Smart mats: Photochromic materials
Change colour when exposed to diff UV levels.
Uses: glasses which lens darken in bright sunlight
Smart materials
Responsive to external stimuli
Composite materials
Composed of at least 2 diff mats, enhancing properties
Composite mats: Glass reinforced plastic (GRP)
Polyster material reinforced w the addition of glass fibre. Strong, lightweight
Composite mats: Carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CRP)
Thermoplastic reinforced w carbon fibres. High strength to weight ratio, very rigid
Technical textiles: Gore-Tex
Fabric w breathable yet waterproof properties. Allows vapour produced by wearerto escape yet repels water
Uses: outdoor clothing
Technical textiles: Protective clothing
Used in sports, medical, industrial envs. Can provide: chemical, flame, etc resistance
Technical textiles: Kevlar
Plastic fibre w high tensile strength. Heat res & extremely hard-wearing. It is a flexible & lightweight fibre known as aramids (which are polyamide fibres).
Polyamide fibres connect to for long chains. These are aligned parallel to each other giving kevlar strength. Fibres are so tightly woven, its nearly impossible to separate them
Uses: body armous, bullet proof vests as tightly woven cloth is cut, puncture & ballistic resistant. Absorb & dissipate an impact
Technical fibres: Microfibres
Synthetic fibres that can be micro-encapsulated (process of adding coating to tiny particles)
Technical textiles: Fire resistant fabrics
Withstand heat & resist burning. Heat & flame res fibres woven to produce fabric that provides protection against heat w/o burning.
Uses: res, lightweight & durable so fire fighters use it
Technical textiles: Conductive fabrics
Thin conductive metal fibres woven into the fabric. Used for thermal heating or allowing electrical signal to pass through them w very little res.
