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Smart Materials

What is a Smart Material?


Basically its a material that reacts quickly
to a stimulus in a specific manner.
The change in the material can also be
reversible, as a change in stimulus can
bring the material back to its previous
state.
Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs)
Metals that exhibit pseudo-elasticity and
the Shape Memory Effect
The basic principle behind SMAs is that a
solid state phase change occurs in these
materials.
They switch between states of Austenite
and Martensite.
Example of SMA
Appplications of SMAs
Popular SMAs are NiTi, CuZnAl, and
CuAlNi
Applications include:
Aeronautical
Making flexible wings using shape memory wires
Medicine
Bone plates made of NiTi
Bioengineering
Muscle wires that can mimic human movement
Smart Gels
A smart gel is a material that expands or contracts in
response to external stimuli.
A smart gel consists of fluid that exists in a matrix of
polymer(s).
Stimulus can include
Light
Magnetic
pH
Temperature
Electrical
Mechanical
Stimulus will alter the polymer that makes it more or less
hydrophillic.
Tanaka experiment

Modeled after T. Tanaka, Science 19 November 1999: Vol. 286. no. 5444, pp. 1543 - 1545
Applications of Smart Gels
Medical
Drug release
Organ replacement
Muscle replication
Industrial
Shake gels
Shock absorbers
Rheological Materials
Material that can change its physical state
very quickly in response to a stimulus
Stimulus include
Electrical
Magnetic
Ferromagnets
Magnetic field aligns ferromagnetic molecules in order in
order to achieve solid state structure
Nanoparticles reduce IUT effect (In Use Thickening)
Example of Magnetic Field on
Rheological Material
Applications of Rheological
Materials
MR materials
Structural Support
Dampers to minimize vibrational shock from wind
and seismic activity.
Industrial
Break fluids
Shock absorbers
Magnetostrictive materials
Material that stretches or shrinks when a
magnetic field is applied.
Conversely, when a mechanical force is
applied on the material, a magnetic field is
induced.
Ferromagnets
Magnetic field can be used to create an
electric current
Applications of Magnetorestrictive
Materials

More efficient fuel injection system


Specific amounts of fuel
Higher frequency
Fullerenes
A fullerene is any series of
hollow carbon molecules that
form either a closed cage, as
in a buckyball, or a cylinder,
like a carbon nanotube.
Most researched/utilized
fullerene is the carbon-60
molecule (truncated
icosaheedron)
Three nanotubes can be made
by varying the chiral angle.
Arm-chair
Zig-zag
Chiral
Chiral angle determines
conductivity
Applications of fullerenes
Superconductors
By doping fullerenes with three variable atoms, a
superconducting state can be achieved.
Medical
Atoms can be trapped in a buckyball, in order to
create a biological sponge.
HIV protease inhibitor
A buckyball can be inserted in the HIV protease
active site in order to stop replication.

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