Chemistry IActivity 6- STAGE 4

Modern Materials

Marion Carolina Alemán Jiménez #1793955Dania Reyes López  #1801641Rogelio Stille Rangel  #1803015Marcelo Zapiain Pruneda  #1816879Diego José Odriozola Martínez #1794415

UNIVERSIDAD AUTÓNOMA DE NUEVO LEÓN

Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo de Educación Bilingüe

Teacher Valeria Verdalet

Group 12017/11/15

In the chemistry field an “new material” is a lab-created material or something newly found in

nature. New materials are essential for the science development, because science depends on finding

and utilizing new materials to keep it moving forward.

For the following activity we focused on 3 main new materials we found interesting to talk about:•UNBREAKABLE GLASS•FUNGAL FOAM•BIO-INSPIRED PLASTIC

New Materi

als

Unbreakable Glass

Elements Present:  Alumina is the essential ingredient along with silicon dioxide, this strengthening agent had to be added in a new way to keep it from crystallizing before the glass could form .

This new “unbreakable glass” which is nearly as strong as steel was developed by researchers at the Tokyo Institute of Industrial Science in Japan. This new material ranked on par with metals normally used for industrial applications.

Physical Properties: It is a completely transparent, thin and solid glass. Unlike traditional ultra-strong glass, this has a very promising strength-to-weight ratio and even thin layers are potentially incredibly resilient to damage or destruction.

Unbreakable Glass

Chemical Properties: It is a water and acid resistant.Areas of Application: Because it is nearly as strong as steel it is considered that it has potential applications ranging from electronics to vehicles and architecture.Relation of Chemistry: This new material has a very strong relationship with the chemistry field, due to the elements from which it is composed (Aluminum Oxide and Silicon dioxide) , that are the main protagonists of the success of this material. How was it made? The Tokyo team brewed up a method of making glass that required no container at all: they used gas to push the chemical components into the air, where they synthesized together.

Unbreakable GlassThis new material isn’t

actually on the market, because it is still developing, what we know right now is because the scientists published their findings and aim to commercialize their work in the next five years, bringing it to tablets, computers, smartphones, cars and buildings; all these of course replacing common glass.

Fungal Foam

Elements Present:  This new material is made of agricultural crop waste, plant stalks and rice and wheat husks bonded together with mushroom roots (called mycelium).

The foam is comparable in strength to conventional foams, but a big differentiating factor is how it ages. Accelerated aging tests conducted to simulate material properties over 30 years showed that Ecovative Design’s foam doesn’t degrade with age and gets stiff when subjected to heat.

Physical Properties: It is a white, opaque solid and soft material, with a very low density, and gets stiff when subjected to heat.Chemical Properties: Its chemical properties are what makes this new material very valuable: it just takes one month for it to decompose.

Fungal Foam

Areas of application:  This new material could be very useful in many fields such as the automotive industry, plumbing, or household.Relation of chemistry and other sciences: This new material was discovered because of a lot of work and investigations through the chemical and biological fields. If researchers didn’t know of what was everything composed, they wouldn’t know how to create this fungal foam that brought big advances to science.

*This Fungal Foam is being used throughout every vehicle because of its softness and eco-friendlyness in seat cushions, arm rests, head restraints, doors, and head liners, replacing common foam such as

Polyurethane, Evlon, Supreem and many others.

ShrilkElements Present:  Shrilk is composed of chitin commonly extracted from discarded shrimp shells and fibroin protein from silk.

Researchers at Harvard University’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering have developed a new material (plastic) called Shrilk to replicate insect cuticle’s strength, durability and versatility.

Physical Properties: Shrilk is a thin, clear, flexible, and strong as aluminum material at half the weight. Chemical Properties: Shrilk degrades in just a few weeks, and releases rich nutrients that support plant growth.

ShrilkAreas of Application: Shrilk had a very great impact in many fields such as the petrochemical industry because it is really cheap to obtain, and it doesn’t harms the environment; reason that made this material a great substitute of PET.Relation of Chemistry and other Sciences: The main science with which this material is related with, is biology and ecology because finally scientists discovered a new material that replaced common plastic and avoid polluting more our environment. But it also has relationship with chemistry because of all the study of polymers that the researchers had to make to discover this new and innovative material.*As we already stated, shrilk is replacing common plastic due to its durable substances made from renewable cellulose, a plant-based polysaccharide. Also because it is made from chitosan, a form of chitin , the second-most abundant organic material on

Earth.

Team’s Conclusion

The discovery of new materials is essential for the development of sciences, because without new discoveries knowledge would remain the same and science won’t grow. For this reason we think it is really important for us to know at least a little bit about the bonds, elements , compounds along with their properties, because this is all that makes possible the creation of a new material, and without this knowledge the world would never do innovative discoveries.

ConclusionsDANIA REYESIn conclusion, scientist have been revolutionizing faster and faster getting better and more ecological materials each year. At this step, we will be able to have a better and more sustainable future with all the new and modern inventions.

MARION ALEMÁNI think all these discoveries have had such a great impact on our world, that without them we wouldn’t know life as we do it today. For this reason science is essential in our life, we should not just live what science provides us, but also to provide new things to science , and for that we should study, read, investigate and discover new things that enable us to create innovative ideas. Believe it or not, chemical bonds are the basis for most substances that exist, as well as the energy that powers them.

ConclusionsDIEGO ODRIOZOLAI believe that science has found ways to solve problems in daily life or has made tasks easier to make in ways that we had never imagined. Science will help us have a better place to live in and will be our "savior".

MARCELO ZAPIAINScience, since the beginning of time, has helped us improve our lives, but it seems that nowadays it is faster, in a near future science will make anything that we humans need. We will someday find a perfect life for nature and for humans.

ROGELIO STILLE In conclusion, taking note on all the given information you can realize that science is one of the most valuable human aspects because we advance as a species to understand our environment, surrounding and to better our grasp of reality.

REFLECTIONThe creation or discovery of new materials and substances is achieved thanks to all the knowledge about the elements that surround us and of course chemical bonds. There are currently 118 different elements on the periodic table. Without chemical bonds there would only be 118 different materials in the world, and so a lot of the things that we have right know wouldn’t exists. This is the reason why it is really important to know about bonds, and how are they related to chemistry and the impact that they have in our lives.

References•ScienceDaily, (2015). New paper-like material could boost electric vehicle batteries. [online] Available at: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150218165830.htm [Accessed 15 Nov. 2015]. •Scientificamerican.com, (2015). 9 Materials That Will Change the Future of Manufacturing [Slide Show]. [online] Available at: http://www.scientificamerican.com/slideshow/9-materials-that-will-change-manufacturing/#1 [Accessed 15 Nov. 2015].•Autofieldguide.com, (2015). Fungus Foam : Automotive Design & Production. [online] Available at: http://www.autofieldguide.com/articles/fungus-foam [Accessed 15 Nov. 2015].•Westlund, D. (2014). Shrilk: The Sustainable and Biodegradable Plastic Made From Shrimp Shells. [online] Guardian Liberty Voice. Available at: http://guardianlv.com/2014/05/shrilk-the-sustainable-and-biodegradable-plastic-made-from-shrimp-shells/ [Accessed 15 Nov. 2015].