Introduction to Materials Chemistry

Harry R. Allcock

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781119347255
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Materials Science
• Index: Technology & Engineering

This textbook introduces the reader to the elementary chemistry on which materials science depends by discussing the different classes of materials and their applications. It shows the reader how different types of materials are produced, why they possess specific properties, and how they are used in technology. Each chapter contains study questions to enable discussions and consolidation of the acquired knowledge.

The new edition of this textbook is completely revised and updated to reflect the significant expansion of the field of materials chemistry over the last years, covering now also topics such as graphene, nanotubes, light emitting diodes, extreme photolithography, biomedical materials, and metal organic frameworks.

From the reviews of the first edition:

"This book is not only informative and comprehensive for a novice reader, but also a valuable resource for a scientist and/or an industrialist for new and novel challenges." (Materials and Manufacturing Process, June 2009)

"Allcock provides a clear path by first describing basic chemical principles, then distinguishing between the various major materials groups, and finally enriching the student by offering a variety of special examples." (CHOICE, April 2009)

"Proceeding logically from the basics to materials in advanced technology, it covers the fundamentals of materials chemistry, including principles of materials synthesis and materials characterization methods." (Internationale Fachzeitschrift Metall, January 2009)

Part I
Background to Materials Chemistry

1
What Is Materials Chemistry?

A. Different Types of Materials

Materials science is mainly the science of solids, a field that encompasses most aspects of modern life. This book provides an introductory, qualitative overview of the role of chemistry in important and expanding areas of materials science, with an emphasis on the ways in which materials are designed, synthesized, evaluated, and used. It starts from the recognition that Chemistry is one of the key components of Materials Science, and that it is connected directly to the fields of Condensed Matter Physics, and to Engineering and Medicine (Figure 1.1). Materials chemistry, if carried out correctly, is a transformational subject. In other words, it is capable of initiating major, often revolutionary, changes to the other fields.

Figure 1.1 Materials science involves research and technology derived from all four of the main technical fields.

A starting point for understanding this subject is to recognize that there are a number of different types of substances that are the basis of materials science. These are ceramics, metals, polymers, carbon materials, superconductors, element and inter‐element semiconductors, optical materials, and a range of species in which small molecules are packed into ordered solids (Figure 1.2). These fields were once separate disciplines with little or no exchange of ideas across the boundaries. This is no longer true, and the central area in Figure 1.2 symbolizes research and technology that joins and crosses the different disciplines.

Figure 1.2 Different types of materials. Ceramics, metals, semiconductors, superconductors, and optical materials are traditionally derived from inorganic sources. Polymers and small molecules in solids are normally obtained from organic or organometallic starting materials. The central area represents the development of new types of materials that combine ideas and structures from the traditional areas in order to generate new combinations of properties. It is in this central area that some of the most important future advances can be expected.

These cross‐disciplinary interactions exist at three different levels. First, the central area in Figure 1.2 symbolizes the many devices and machines that utilize different materials. For example, integrated semiconductor microcircuits are based on the properties of doped silicon, silicon dioxide, and copper but the patterning of the devices depends on the properties of polymers. Aircraft are constructed from metals such as aluminum or titanium together with polymer/carbon fiber composites. Lens systems utilize inorganic glasses and polymers. Optical communications equipment makes use of silicate–germanate glasses and inorganic semiconductor lasers.

Second, the central area in Figure 1.2 represents materials that are themselves hybrids of traditional solids both in composition and properties. Sometimes, a hybrid material derived from, for example, small molecules trapped in an organic or inorganic lattice has superior properties to those of the individual components. Or, a polymer that contains both organic and inorganic components may have characteristics that are an advance over those found in classical organic polymers or in traditional inorganic solids.

Third, the central area is where ideas developed in one field are used to promote advances in another. For example, concepts that were once thought to be specific to inorganic semiconductors may stimulate thinking about the behavior of some layered solids such as carbon nanotubes or graphene, or of unsaturated organic polymers. Many of the ideas developed originally to explain the behavior of clathrated small molecules trapped in crystal lattices are applicable to the properties of materials such as zeolites or metal–organic frameworks.

The cross‐disciplinary nature of materials science is particularly important when the sources of different materials are considered (Figure 1.3) and the different property combinations that are involved. Each of the classical materials has advantages and disadvantages. Some of these are also summarized in Figure 1.3.

Figure 1.3 Sources of the main classes of materials and the properties that determine their uses.

For instance, classical ceramics are rigid, chemically inert, and withstand high temperatures, but they are heavy, often brittle, and are difficult to fabricate into complex shapes. Most common metals are strong, tough, and are good electrical conductors, but nearly all are heavy and prone to corrosion. There are also serious environmental penalties to be paid for their extraction from minerals and in their refining. Inorganic semiconductors play a vital role in communications technology and computing but newer materials are often difficult to purify and fabricate and are thus expensive. Classical polymers are inexpensive because they are derived from petroleum. They are easily fabricated because of their low softening temperatu...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Table of Contents
• Preface to the Second Edition
• Part I: Background to Materials Chemistry
• Part II: Different Types of Materials
• Part III: Materials in Advanced Technology
• Appendix Terminology
• Index
• End User License Agreement