INTRODUCTION TO NANOSCIENCE

OBJECTIVES:

• To understand the concept of nanoscience.

• To comprehend the concept of quantum confinement.
• To get an insight into the preparation techniques
• To learn about advanced engineering materials.
•
INTRODUCTION
The concept of nanostructures and nanotechnology dates back to the history of the Nobel
Laureate Richard Feynman’s famous lecture in 1959 where he speculated the possibility of
manoeuvring things atom by atom. He proudly said, “There is plenty of room at the bottom”. By
this sentence, he strongly pointed out that there is a lot of scope and application of materials at
very small scale, i.e., at atomic or molecular level. Why cannot we write the entire 24 volumes of
the Encyclopaedia Britannica on the head of a pin? One may wonder what it is so special at the
nanoscale? The answer to these questions is against the very notion that specific physical
properties of a given material are the characteristic of the material itself and are irrespective of
their size. This is no longer valid at the nanoscale. There will be a drastic change in properties
which are counter-intuitive and unbelievable. Gold, the yellow metal, is no more yellow in any size
or dimension. It may be purple red and orange. CdS under colloidal solution may yield a rainbow
spectrum of colour. Ceramic oxides are not always brittle. Nanoceramics are ductile and
malleable. What sounded as scientific fantasy or myth at that time, today has turned into reality.
Nanoscience and technology cut across disciplines without boundary.

For physicists and chemists, nano means in the range of dimension of a few atoms and
molecules. For biologists, the visualization is to the dimension of the size of a DNA or to the scale
of a cell. Scientists have now devised techniques to prepare nanoparticles which have peculiar
properties. Nanotechnology is now a portal opening onto a new world. This chapter will provide a
brief look at nanoscale and its visualization.

The building block of Carbon 60 (C60) molecule is a truncated icosahedron with 60

vortices and 32 faces. Among 32 faces, 12 are pentagons and 20 are hexagons. All the rings are
fused and the double bonds are conjugated. The combination of pentagon and hexagon is very
necessary as only hexagons like graphite cannot be folded up into a sphere. The basic
requirement here is that the structure must be closed perfectly without gaps and overlaps. The
Buckministerfullerene has high symmetry. It is very easy to produce and most popularly applied
in a variety of fields ranging from Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics. The new field of
carbon chemistry emerged from the discovery of C60. The other two cousins of zero-dimensional
(0D) fullerene are, one-dimensional (1D) carbon nanotube (CNT) and two-dimensional (2D)
graphene.

Figure 6.1: Buckministerfullerene (Bucky ball)

Figure 6.2 : Representation of a single and multi walled nanotubes

Figure 6.3 Graphene, a single layer of atoms arranged in a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice
nanostructure.

Graphene:
Graphene is a 2D nanomaterial possessing several distinct properties. Graphite can be viewed
where a number of 2D graphene crystals are weakly coupled together. Here carbon atoms are
arranged in planner and hexagonal form. It has a honeycomb structure and it acts as a precursor
for other members of carbon family like graphite, CNT and fullerene. Graphene sheets are held
together by van der Waals forces. Graphene has high spring constant of the order 1-5 N/m and its
Young’s modulus is of 0.5 TPa. These high values make graphene strong and rigid and helps in
using graphene as pressure sensor and resonators. The thermal conductivity of graphene is 100
times larger than that of graphite.

NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY

Nanoscience is the study of the phenomenon and manipulation of materials at nanoscale where
properties differ significantly from those at larger scale. A ten centimeter piece of any material,
say, copper would have similar properties as a one centimeter piece, or even a one millimeter
piece. However, at the other extreme, one or two isolated atoms of copper would show quite
different properties. Some bulk properties of matter lose their identity while others show a drastic
change in the context of atoms and molecules. The properties of nanoparticles are therefore
strongly dependent on the number of atoms or size of the cluster. Nanotechnology deals with the
design, characterization, production and application of structures, devices by controlling the
shape and size of the material at nanometer scale. Size effects constitute a peculiar and
fascinating aspect of nanomaterials. Nanoscience and nanotechnology explore and benefit from
quantum phenomenology in the ultimate limit of miniaturization. At length scales comparable to
atoms and molecules, quantum effects strongly modify properties of matter like “colour”,
reactivity, magnetic or electrical and other physical properties. The drastic change in properties
make nano a thrust area or driving force for developing high performance, low cost, miniaturized
solid-state devices. Nature also mimics nanoscience, for example, the minute structures that
make up the wings of a butterfly, a peacock feather, spider thread and a lotus leaf. To be more
specific, on the properties front, we have the following amazing properties: (i) 6 nm copper is 5
times as hard as the bulk copper (ii) Nanoceramics are ductile and malleable whereas bulk
ceramics are rigid (iii) Nano size titanium sinters at lower temperature (600 °C), whereas bulk
titanium sinters at 1400 °C (iv) Rutiles becomes ductile in the nano form (v) particles of size 10–
30 nm cannot scatter visible light, hence all particles of this size, no matter what they are made
of, are transparent (vi) different sized nano CdSe exhibit different colours – a boon for band gap
engineers; this is due to the quantum size effect. (vii) Electrical insulators at nanosize conduct
due to tunnelling current. (Viii) 3 nm CdS melts at 700 K compared to bulk CdS at 1678 K.
Other wonders of nanoscience include: (i) scratch resistance optical glass, (ii) dirt repellent
trains, (iii) ceramic motor car engines and tools, (iv) cancer treatment due to targeted drug
delivery and (v) corrosion protecting surface. The widespread use of nanotechnology is due to (i)
small scale miniaturization (ii) faster and cheaper manufacture, (iii) higher reliability, (iv) lower
cost nanoelectronics and many others.

SURFACE TO VOLUME RATIO

It is well known that finer particles are more reactive than larger particles. Most common
examples are: fine sugar dissolves faster, fine coal particles burn stronger than bigger size. This
may be the reason why many Ayurvedic medicines are prepared after extensive grinding and
compounding. Homeopathic medicines are taken in the form of micro fine globules. The high
reactivity results from the availability of a greater surface area by reducing the size either by
grinding, pounding, milling and so on.
 Figure 6.4: Illustration of increased Surface to volume ratio as we move towards nano.

EXPLANATION:

(a) Consider a Cube with length of each side = 1m

Since it has six faces, its surface area = 6 sq.m.
Its volume = 1 cubic meter

Surface Area to Volume Ratio =SVR= 6/1 = 6

(b)If we further cut into 27 (=33) pieces,

then the surface area of each piece
= (1/3) x (1/3) x 6 = (2/3) sq.m.
But there are 27 pieces, total surface area
= (2/3) x 27 = 18 sq.m.

Surface Area to Volume Ratio = 18/1 = 18.

(C) If we further cut into 109 (=(103)3 pieces,

then the surface area of each piece
= (1/103) x (1/103) x 6 = (6 /106) sq.m.
But there are 109 pieces, total surface area
= (6 /106)) x 109 = 6000 sq.m.

Surface Area to Volume Ratio = 6000/1 = 6000.

Original Volume V0= 1m3 (Fixed)

N= 109 pieces
Volume of small cubes Vs= (a x a x a) = a3

V0 = N Vs

(1 m x 1m x 1m ) =109 (a x a x a)

implies a3 = 10-9 gives a = 10-3 or a = 1mm

Since the surface atom possesses more energy than the bulk atoms, they are chemically more
active. Particles on surfaces are very sensitive to the environment and physical chemical
properties get modified. The new surface is more reactive and acquires special features. Minerals
get activated on grinding. Grinding and pounding of solids increase dissolution rates not only
because of increase in surface area; it also supports structural change, defects formation and
accumulation of mechanical energy that is released during dissolution. As the size becomes
smaller, the surface to volume ratio increases and this increase begins to go up rapidly as one
reaches a smaller size range. It is therefore clear that nanomaterials possess size dependent
properties.

This can be categorized as:

(i) Thermal properties (melting point, sintering temperature, etc)

(ii) Chemical properties (reactions, catalytic properties, activation energy and dissolution)
(iii) Mechanical properties (strength, adhesion, hardness, scratch resistance)
(iv) Optical properties (absorption, scattering, band gap)
(v) Electrical properties (transport, tunnelling, resistance)
(vi) Magnetic properties (nanomagnetism, superparamagnetism)

These properties make them useful as sensors, transducers, and pharmaceutical applications.
Surface area to volume ratio is very large for nanomaterials. To understand this concept,
consider a spherical material of radius r then:

Surface area of the sphere 4𝜋𝑟 2 3

= =
Volume of the sphere 4 3 𝑟
3 𝜋𝑟

As the size of the sphere decreases, the above ratio increases. Alternatively, if the material is
cubic, as it is divided into small cubes, then also the surface area to volume ratio increases.
Hence, the nanomaterials possess large value of surface area to volume ratio as compared to the
bulk material.

QUANTUM CONFINEMENT
The drastic change in surface to volume ratio at nanorange results in change of the atomic and
electronic structure as a result, electrical, optical, magnetic, and transport properties changes.
If the size is in the nanorange only in one dimension, it leads to a thin film, i.e., 2D structures and
1D confinement; for example, graphene. The basic idea behind quantum confinement is keeping
an electron trapped in a small area. It is due to the fact that the energy available to the electron
is less than the potential barrier it has to cross. This is similar to a particle in a well in quantum
mechanics, known as quantum well. The second arrangement is a nanorod or nanotube (with 1D
structures and 2D confinement), popularly known as a quantum wire. An example of a quantum
wire is the carbon nanotube (CNT). Three-dimensional graphite has a 3D structure and 0D
confinement, whereas fullerene has a 0D structure and 3D confinement. The most important
finding of quantum confinement is the quantum dot. The quantum dot is treated as an artificial
atom or ‘super-atom’ having three-dimensional confinements and zero dimensional structures.
Like a particle in a box, the allowed energy levels can be varied at the will and pleasure of the
experimenter by changing the size of the quantum dot cluster. This in turn changes the material
properties such as electrical and non-linear optical properties and so on. On excitation, a smaller
dot emits light of higher energy and intensity or smaller wavelength. Hence, the emitted light is
blue. As the dot enlarges in size, the emitted light is of lower energy or larger wavelength, moving
towards red. This can be verified experimentally by taking a colloidal suspension of CdSe core
with ZnS shell quantum dots of varying sizes. Larger and smaller quantum dots exhibit red and
blue colours, respectively. Cadmium sulphide, which is orange in colour in its bulk form, for
example, keeps on changing colour through different shades of yellow and becomes white as its
cluster size changes. Optical property depends strongly upon the particle shape and size. Bulk
gold (Au) is yellowish in reflected light, but a thin gold film appears blue in transmission. Further,
this blue colour changes to purple, red and finally orange as the particle size is reduced down to
3 nm.

Figure 6.5: Effects of dimensionality of quantization on the electronic density of states.

 Figure 6.6 Change in the idealized density of state while reducing the system dimensionality
from a 3D bulk crystal to a 2D layer and, finally via a 1D wire to a 0D quantum dot.

QUANTUM DOTS (QDs)

• QDs are quite interesting as they enable the study of semiconductors on small length
scale.

• In these materials, photon of energy greater than band gap causes an electron to be
promoted to a conduction band leaving a positive hole in the valance band.

• The electron and hole as a pair constitutes an exciton [A bound electron-hole pair (in their
lowest energy states), when a photon is absorbed by a semiconductor is known as an
exciton].

• The maximum length of separation between an electron and hole at which they are still
linked by Coulombic attraction forces is called the exciton Bohr radius also referred as
de Broglie wavelength of electron.

• As the particle size approaches the exciton Bohr radius the charge carriers are confined
in three dimensions.

• This phenomenon known as quantum confinement causes the continuous band of the
bulk to split into discrete quantized levels.
In a quantum dot, the excitons are squeezed, leading to Quantum Confinement, such that the
size of the QD crystal is on the same order as the size of the exciton Bohr radius. This unique size
property causes the band of energies to turn into discrete energy levels.

Figure 6.7: Splitting of valence band and conduction band into discrete energy levels due to
quantum confinement effect.

Bound exciton energy of a Quantum dot (EQD): When the size of the semiconductor crystal is
smaller than the Exciton Bohr radius, the Coulomb interaction energy (between electron-hole
pair) ‘EQD’ increases due the following reason:

PREPARATION TECHNIQUES
There are various ways to categorize the synthesis method of nanostructured materials.
Depending on the phase of the starting material, there are two classes: via gas phase and via
condensed phase. Alternate classifications may be physical or chemical and top down or bottom
up approaches. Further, the crystallographic structure of the precursor also decides the method
of fabrication. Amorphous materials on crystallization yield 3D nanostructured materials.
Polycrystals on ball milling undergo severe plastic deformation and give rise to nanomaterials.
Single atoms may be electrodeposited in various ways or condensed to give clusters and
subsequently, on compaction yield nanoparticles. It should be noted that there exists certain
overlap between the different methods. Gas phase synthesis is sophisticated and expensive
compared to condensed phase. This method gives more insight into understanding the basic
aspects of the nanostructure. Condensed phase synthesis deals with chemical vapour
deposition (CVD) and physical vapour deposition (PVD) from atomic or molecular precursors.
Bulk precursors under mechanical attrition, grinding and pounding, laser ablation, evaporation
and so on, supports nanofabrication.

The nanomaterials are synthesized using a number of methods. These methods are generally
classified into two categories, namely

1. Top-down process
2. Bottom-up process

Figure 6.8 : Top-down and bottom-up processes

Top down approach:

The top down approach is physics friendly and deals with taking a bulk material and is crushed
into fine particles using the processes such as mechanical alloying, laser ablation, sputtering etc.
to produce the nanostructure. The size limit that can be created depends on the tool.

The examples of top-down process are

1. Ball milling
2. Laser ablation
3. Sputtering
 4. Arc evaporation
5. Electron beam evaporation
6. Photolithography, etc.

The disadvantages in this method include (i) imperfection or defects in the crystal, (ii)
crystallographic damage, and (iii) surface contamination.

APPLICATIONS OF NANOTECHNOLOGY
Nanomaterials are found in both biological systems and man-made structures. Nature has been
using nanomaterials for millions of years. The large surface area to volume ratio increases the
chemical activity. Nanomaterials have the following applications.

(i) Microelectronics: In microelectronics, the reduction in size of electronic components leads

to faster switching times. Nanotechnology includes fabrication of nanowires used in
semiconductors. Porous silicon emits visible light, so it finds application in optoelectronics.
Quantum dot lasers are nanoscaled objects, they emit good-quality laser beam compared to
semiconductor laser diodes. They are cheaper and the emitted wavelength depends on the
diameter of the dot.

(ii) Machine tools: Some nanocrystalline materials such as tungsten carbide, tantalum
carbide and titanium carbide are harder than conventional materials; they are more wear-
resistant and erosion resistant, so they are used in cutting tools and drill bits. Nanocrystalline
silicon nitride and silicon carbide are used in the manufacturing of high-strength springs, ball
bearings and valve lifters because of their excellent physical, chemical and mechanical
properties. Nanocrystalline ceramics such as zirconia (ZrO2) are softer than conventional
materials, so they can be easily pressed and sintered into various shapes at significantly lower
temperatures.

(iii) High-power magnets: The magnetic strength of a material is directly proportional to the
surface area per unit volume. The magnetic nanocrystalline yttrium – samarium – cobalt possess
very high magnetic properties due to large surface area. The typical applications of high-power
rare earth magnets are in submarines, generators, electric motors, automobile alternators,
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) instruments and in ultrasensitive analytical instruments.

(iv) In television or in a monitor: In television or in a monitor, the resolution depends on

the size of the pixel made of phosphors. The phosphor glows when a beam of electrons strike
them. The resolution of images in these instruments increases as the size of pixels reduces.
Materials like nanocrystalline selenide, zinc sulphide, lead telluride and cadmium sulphide
synthesized by the sol-gel method improve the resolution. The use of nanophosphors may reduce
the making cost of high resolution television. In new generation batteries, the separator plates
are made up of nanocrystalline materials prepared by the sol-gel method, and they hold more
energy. For example, batteries made of nanocrystalline nickel and metal hydrides are long lasting
and requires minimal recharging.

(v) Motor vehicles and air craft: The thermal energy generated in engines is wasted to a
large extent. This can be reduced by coating the cylinders with nanocrystalline ceramics such as
zirconia and alumina. By retaining more heat energy, combustion of the fuel takes place
completely. In air crafts, by decreasing the grain size of the materials the fatigue strength
increases. By using nanomaterials, the fatigue life increases as much as 300%. The components
made of nanomaterials are stronger and operate at higher temperatures. So aircrafts can fly faster
using the same amount of aviation fuel.

(vi) Aerogels: Aerogels are nanocrystalline materials. They are porous and hence air is trapped
at the interstices. Using these materials for insulation at offices and homes leads to drastic
reduction in cooling and heating bills by saving power. These materials are also used as materials
for smart windows, so that the materials become darkened when the sun is too bright and
lightened when the sun is not shining brightly.

(vii) Energy efficiency: For illumination, energy consumption can be greatly reduced by using
quantum caged atoms or light emitting diodes (LEDs) instead of ordinary filament bulbs.
Nanostructures with a continuum of energy band gaps have an increased solar energy conversion
efficiency as compared to ordinary semiconductor solar cells. In hydrogen fuel cells,
nanostructured catalyst material is used on carbon-supported noble metal particles with
diameters between 1 and 5 nm. For hydrogen storage, materials with nanosized pores like
nanotubes, zeolites, etc. are under investigation.

(viii) Medical field: Nanomaterials are used in biology for the development of diagnostic
devices, drug delivery vehicles, analytical tools and in physical therapy applications. The genetic
sequence of a sample can be detected by tagging gold nanoparticles with short segments of
DNA. Magnetic nanoparticles are used to label molecules, structures or micro-organisms of an
antibody. Iron nanoparticles are used in cancer treatment. Nanotechnology is used to reproduce
or to repair damaged tissue.
(ix) Textiles: Clothes made of nanofibres are water and stain repellent and wrinkle-free. They
can be washed less frequently at low temperatures.

(x) Computer: Quantum computers use fast quantum algorithms and have quantum bit
memory space (qubit), so it involves in several computations at the same time.

(xi) Cosmetics: Sun screens based on mineral nanoparticles such as titanium dioxide offer
several advantages. They have high UV protection compared to the bulk material.

In addition to the above, we have quantum dots, suntan lotion, nanotubes, protective coatings.
Fullerenes (C60) are used as lubricants (molecular ball bearings), diamond seeding, diamond
production, xerographic materials, photochromic goggles, etc.

Modern Engineering Materials

Introduction

For all engineering applications materials are a necessity. A variety of materials including metals,
alloys, glasses, polymers, composites, etc. are used in many engineering applications. As few
applications demand better and more efficient materials, few emergent materials such as
nanomaterials like carbon nanotubes; biomaterials such as artificial tissue and surgical mesh;
materials for 3D printing; smart materials; etc. are gaining importance of late. Materials scientists
and engineers work together to compose new products by applying physics, chemistry, and
biology, at the forefront of technology. Some of the new engineering materials like metallic
glasses, shape memory alloys, and biomaterials are discussed in this section.

1. Metallic Glasses

Aluminum is considered the best choice for automobile and structural objects for its low density
and high specific strength, whereas, due to good strength and cost-effectiveness, steel is the
most preferred material for structural applications. Likewise, in some applications where
intricate design is required, materials like plastic are used. However, as individual materials, both
of these lack combined properties due to their arrangement of atoms. For example, due to the
anisotropic nature of crystalline metals, there is an inhomogeneity inside the material because
defects like point defects, dislocations, and stacking faults are prominent making them weak and
prone to failures. Metallic glasses are materials combining both the properties of metals which
are in general crystalline and glasses, which are in general amorphous. Examples of metallic
glasses are the alloys of Ni – Ge (Nickel-Germanium), Nickel – Niobium (Ni – Nb), Magnesium –
Zinc (Mg – Zn), Copper – Zirconium (Cu – Zr), and Hafnium – Vanadium (Hf – V).

Figure 6.9. The atomic arrangement of (a) single crystal, (b) polycrystal and (c) amorphous
structures.

1.1. Properties of metallic glasses.

a. Due to their lack of long-range ordering, there is inherent homogeneity, resulting in the
absence of defects. Also, do not possess long-range anisotropy.
b. These materials possess very high strength in the elastic region. They can have good
yielding strength, which is higher than that of steel.
c. Because of the good homogeneity of atoms in metallic glasses, very good corrosion
resistance is achieved along with good wear resistance.
d. Unlike ordinary silica glasses, metallic glasses are very tough materials.
e. The metallic glasses are very hard materials, and their fracture resistance is much better
compared to ceramics.
f. They have high corrosion resistance due to random ordering and have high elasticity and
ductility.
g. Because of the metallic atoms, these glasses possess significant magnetic effects. It
helps to easily magnetize or demagnetize these materials.
h. The electrical resistivity of metallic glasses is high, and it does not vary with temperature.

1.2. Glass transition temperature

The glass transition temperature (Generally denoted as “Tg”) is an important parameter for the
preparation of metallic glasses. It is defined as a temperature at which the liquid-like atomic
 structure is obtained into a solid, avoiding the route of crystallization. This is more easily
understood in the case of a polymer. If we cool a polymer from its liquid state, initially it
undergoes cooling and it gets a rubbery state and then after crossing the Tg, it becomes brittle.
This kind of phenomenon occurs in amorphous metals too. In case of metallic glasses, we
can say that Tg is the temperature at which material gets soft from hard upon heating or get
hard upon cooling.

The typical values of glass transition temperature for metallic alloys is about 20 °C to 30 °C.

1.3. Applications of Metallic glasses

a. Metallic glasses are used as reinforcing elements in concrete, plastic and rubber.
b. Metallic glasses are used to make pressure vessels and to construct larger flywheels for
energy storage.
c. They are used to make accurate standard resistors, Magnetic resistance sensors and
computer memories.
d. These are used in tape recorder heads, cores of high-power transformers and magnetic
shields.
e. Metallic glasses are used as the core in motors.
f. These are used to make razor blades and different kinds of springs.
g. Metallic glasses can be used as superconductors to produce high magnetic fields and
magnetic levitation effect.
h. Metallic glasses are used to make containers for nuclear waste disposal and magnets for
fusion reactors.
i. Metallic glasses are used in marine cables, chemical filters, inner surfaces of reactor
vessels, etc.
j. Metallic glasses are very useful in making surgical instruments.

2. Shape Memory Alloys

Shape memory alloys (SMA) are intermetallic alloys with shape memory effect (SME) and
superelasticity (SE), both resulting from a reversible solid-state transformation. These materials
show the ability to return to their original shape or size (i.e., they appear to have memory) when
they are subjected to external agents like temperature, magnetic field, loading, etc.

The SME was first discovered by Chang and Read in 1951 in the Au-Cd (gold-cadmium) alloy
system. However, the effect became more well-known after the discovery of nickel-titanium
alloys. The nickel-titanium alloy was first discovered in 1961 and is popularly known as NiTiNOL
(i.e., Nickel-Titanium alloy developed at the Naval Ordinance Lab) which exhibited a much
greater SME than previous materials. The typical composition of NiTi is with a nickel and titanium
in a ratio of 55% to 45%. Commented [N1]: This composition is correct. Even
there is an alloy NiTi60, which has 60% Ni.

The nominal composition ratio is 55% to 45%- Ref

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mser.2004.11.001

Figure 1 Phase transformation of SMA

SMA's have two stable phases: The high-temperature phase is called austenite (parent phase).
Austenite has a cubic crystal structure. The low temperature is known as the martensite phase
and has a monoclinic crystal structure.

SME occurs because of the phase transformation of Martensite to Austenite beyond re-
crystallization temperature. In the absence of any applied load, upon heating an SMA, the
Martensite phase simply gets transformed to Austenite. During this phase transformation, though
there is a change in the microstructure of SMA, the macroscopic shape of the SMA does not
change. Again, on cooling the SMA, a reverse Martensite transformation takes place; however,
the Austenite now gets transformed to twinned Martensite. This transformation is called self-
accommodating transformation.

The Shape Memory Effect (SME) can be summarized as shown in Figure 6.10. At a temperature
below Mfo , SMA has twinned Martensitic microstructure (B). On loading SMA, the de-twinning of
Martensite starts, and it ends at some critical value of the stress (C). Further loading of SMA
results in permanent plastic strain in SMA. On complete unloading, SMA still retains strain in it
(D), which is recovered if it is heated beyond Afo (E). At Aso , the Martensite phase starts
transforming into Austenite. Afo is the temperature required to complete this transformation at
zero stress level. The percentage of transformation strain recovered by SMA is proportional to the
Austenite volume fraction. On cooling SMA, Martensite transformation starts from Mso , and for
temperatures below Mfo Austenite, it gets completely transformed to twinned Martensite
(B). Cm and CA are material-dependent parameters of SMA, providing the relationship between
temperature and stress for Martensite and Austenite phases, respectively. Their units are
Pa/ K. CM is typically of higher magnitude than CA .

Figure 6.10 Shape memory effect

SME constitutes both stress induced transformation (twinned Martensite to de-twinned

Martensite) and temperature induced transformation (de-twinned Martensite to Austenite). SME
is a useful property of SMA for applications in the field of linear actuators as the displacement
range of an actuator can be easily controlled by controlling the temperature of the SMA element.

2.1. Applications of SMA

Shape memory alloys have vast applications in our day-to-day life. The most widely used SMA in
engineering fields are in aerospace, automotive and biomedical applications. Some of them are
listed below:

a. SMAs are used in bioengineering applications such as dental wires such as those
used in dental braces, mending broken bones using metal plates, and medical
devices that help open clogged veins and arteries.
b. SMAs are used for vibration damping, particularly used in launch vehicles and jet
engines.
 c. Another possible application of SMAs is in retrofitting buildings that are not designed
considering seismic conditions.
d. SMAs can also be used as actuators because of their ability to change shapes. They
have potential applications in aircraft and space vehicles because they are lighter and
can help save energy compared to bulky mechanical actuators.
e. The SMAs could automatically change the size of the exhaust nozzles depending on
the temperatures encountered during the various flight stages.
f. Other day-to-day applications include anti-scalding valves, fire security and
protection systems, self-adjusting eye-glass frames, sports equipment, etc.

3. Biomaterials

Biomaterials play an integral role in medicine today—restoring function and facilitating healing
for people after injury or disease. Biomaterials may be natural or synthetic and are used in
medical applications to support, enhance, or replace damaged tissue or a biological function.
The first historical use of biomaterials dates to antiquity, when ancient Egyptians used sutures
made from animal sinew. The modern field of biomaterials combines medicine, biology, physics,
and chemistry, and more recent influences from tissue engineering and materials science. The
field has grown significantly in the past decade due to discoveries in tissue engineering,
regenerative medicine, and more.

Metals, ceramics, plastic, glass, and even living cells and tissue all can be used in creating a
biomaterial. They can be reengineered into molded or machined parts, coatings, fibers, films,
foams, and fabrics for use in biomedical products and devices. These may include heart valves,
hip joint replacements, dental implants, or contact lenses. They often are biodegradable, and
some are bio-absorbable, meaning they are eliminated gradually from the body after fulfilling a
function.

Biomaterials have the following broad range of applications:

• Biosensors—injectable biosensors that allow for continuous monitoring of oxygen,

glucose and lactic acid in vivo
• Engineered Skin— electrospun collagen and collagen-synthetic composites have shown
improved collagen strength and elasticity while allowing for easy application.
• Biomanufacturing—Metals, polymers, and ceramics are studied for use in traditional
manufacturing (forging, milling, molds), as well as electrospinning and melt
 electrowriting (polymers only) and additive manufacturing (3D printing) of solid cured and
bioprinted tissue engineering scaffolds.
• Biomaterials for bone regeneration—Resorbable metals (Mg alloys) and stiffness-
matched alloys (NiTi) in some cases may perform better than the current standards of Ti-
6Al-4V, CP Ti, Cobalt-Cromium, or stainless steel.
• Drug Delivery—implantable capsules enabling long-term delivery of contraceptive
compounds and other materials
• Biomimetic Elastomers—elastic polymers that mimic mechanical properties of the
tissue and key functions of proteins found in the body
• Microenvironments for Stem Cell Differentiation—engineering tissue construct
microenvironment to direct stem cell differentiation.
• Tendon Repair—Tissue-engineered constructs are being fabricated that will shorten the
recovery time associated with tendon repair and also improve function.

QUESTIONS
1. Why nanoscience is important?
2. Write a note on the surface to volume ratio. Mention its significance
3. Narrate the different applications of graphene.
4. What are quantum dots?
5. What do you mean by quantum confinement? From the quantum confinement
concept, how do properties change at the nanoscale?
6. What do you mean by ‘top down’ and ‘bottom up’ approach? Explain.
7. Mention some applications of nanomaterials
8. Write a short note on Shape Memory Alloys
9. Explain Shape Memory Effect.
10. Discuss the applications of modern engineering materials: 1. Metallic glasses 2.
Shape Memory Alloys 3. Biomaterials
11. How metallic glasses combine both the properties of both glasses and metals.