José Manuel Torralba, IMDEA MATERIALS
Silicon anode batteries made from nanomaterials; recyclable carbon nanotubes; lab-created living tissues and organs… The impact of supermaterials on our lives has already begun.
Health is the field where the evolution of materials science and engineering is most impactful.
Will it be possible to create new artificial organs? Will implants that are absorbed into our bodies while simultaneously regenerating with our own bones become a reality? Can we customise implants to the exact diameter of our arteries? Will it be possible to replicate diseases in artificial organs to test treatments before experimenting on living beings? Could we achieve the dream of eternal youth?
The answer is yes. Not only is it possible, but we will see it soon.
The Revolution of Implants and Artificial Tissues
The HUMANeye project team has developed and tested a corneal implant with shape memory. It’s made of nitinol, a nickel-titanium alloy already used in stents, dental wires, orthopedic screws, and other surgical supplies. The results of HUMANeye open the door to solving corneal diseases, one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide.
But the possibilities of shape-memory materials extend far beyond this. The shape-memory alloy market is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 11.2% from 2022 to 2029.
An innovative example of this technological advance was presented at Hannover Messe: the world’s first refrigerator that cools using artificial muscles made of nitinol.
Nitinol implants are already being produced in laboratories with patient-specific customisation thanks to 3D printing. These implants self-expand once installed, eliminating the need for aggressive follow-up treatments after the initial surgery.
4D printing of shape-memory materials allows manufactured pieces to evolve over time, both in shape and composition. This revolutionary process promises new opportunities in tissue regeneration and reconstructive surgeries.
Bio-printing combines cells and biomaterials to create living tissues and organs that can be used to replace damaged or aged structures, as well as to replace animal models in drug testing or disease modelling.
The creation of artificial tissues, such as bioinspired tendons, is already a reality.
Batteries with Better Memory Thanks to Nanomaterials
At last, nanomaterials are entering the industry with the development of new batteries and composite materials.
Using silicon nanofibers, anodes for lithium-ion batteries can be manufactured with much greater storage capacity than the currently used graphite anodes, which is also a critical material that requires many more recharge cycles.
These anodes are made from a product resembling a sheet of paper. This is already a reality being produced at a pilot plant by Floatech, a spin-off from the IMDEA Materials Institute. But innovations in lithium-ion batteries go beyond the materials comprising the anode and cathode. Nanoparticles are being used to mitigate the risk of deflagration in both electrolytes and casings.
Recyclable Carbon Nanotubes
Progress is also being made on one of the “endemic” problems of carbon nanotubes: their recyclability.
A study recently published in the prestigious journal Carbon advances the possibility of recycling them using a system similar to LEGOⓇ blocks.
Recycled nanotubes could return to their initial state, like building blocks. They could dissolve and transform into liquid crystalline solutions, which could then be respun into new high-quality fibers.
These advances, along with the development of more recyclable polymers, pave the way for new composite materials that will contribute, among other things, to fostering a more sustainable aviation sector.
Nanomaterials will also help develop sensors to monitor any structural damage that might occur during flights. With all this, we’ll have safer, more sustainable airplanes.
Ductile, Resistant, and Multifunctional Materials
The emergence of high-entropy alloys in 2004 opened many development pathways, putting the entire periodic table at the disposal of alloy designers.
Today, we are very close to using these alloys to achieve improvements in areas as diverse as the high temperatures needed in aviation engines and the development of special magnetic or electrical properties, which are crucial for new energy generation methods.
High-entropy alloys allow the creation of materials unimaginable not long ago. We are approaching the dream of what was once a contradiction: materials that are both strong and ductile.
Beyond Substance: Metamaterials
When we can’t go further by modifying a material’s chemical composition, we can instead design its basic components in ways that give it exceptional properties. Enter metamaterials.
We can modify a material’s surface by creating structures that cause waves to move, bend, or reflect in specific ways. This allows us to create invisible materials (manipulating light), radar-undetectable materials, or materials that completely isolate sound. By altering a material’s internal architecture, we can achieve unprecedented mechanical properties. These are truly materials bordering on magic.
AI Accelerates Everything
Material development is now supported by three key pillars: new manufacturing techniques (with a special emphasis on 3D printing), the rise of AI, and aligning every development with sustainability and efficient use of raw materials.
The number of studies applying artificial intelligence to materials science has grown at a rate of 1.67 times per year over the last decade. But sustainability has made things more complex.
For any development, we must consider which metals are available on the planet. Moreover, many more design criteria must now be addressed than in the past. For example, where once strength was prioritized over ductility, we now consider materials capable of serving multiple functions simultaneously.
With all these considerations, the number of variable combinations in the 21st century is immense. That’s where AI comes in to make everything—or almost everything—possible.
Materials science is expanding like never before, and its impact is already transforming us. A new year, new challenges.
José Manuel Torralba, Professor at the Carlos III University of Madrid, IMDEA MATERIALS
This article was originally published in The Conversation. Read the original (content in Spanish).
You can read all of IMDEA Materials’ articles in The Conversation Spain here.
