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materials science
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ma·te·ri·als science (mə-tîr'ē-əlz)n.
The study of the characteristics and uses of the various materials, such as metals, ceramics, and plastics, that are employed in science and technology.
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materials science
Study of the properties of solid materials and how those properties are determined by the material's composition and structure, both macroscopic and microscopic. Materials science grew out of solid-state physics, metallurgy, ceramics, and chemistry, since the numerous properties of materials cannot be understood within the context of any single discipline. With a basic understanding of the origins of properties, materials can be selected or designed for an enormous variety of applications, from structural steels to computer microchips. Materials science is therefore important to many engineering fields, including electronics, aerospace, telecommunications, information processing, nuclear power, and energy conversion. See also mechanics, metallography, strength of materials, testing machine.
For more information on materials science, visit Britannica.com.
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materials science

The Materials Science Tetrahedron, which often also includes Characterization at the center
Materials science is an interdisciplinary field involving the properties of matter and its applications to various areas of science and engineering. It includes elements of applied physics and chemistry, as well as chemical, mechanical, civil and electrical engineering. With significant media attention to nanoscience and nanotechnology in the recent years, materials science has been propelled to the forefront at many universities, sometimes controversially.

History
The choice material of a given era is often its defining point: the stone age, Bronze Age, and steel age are examples. Materials science is one of the oldest forms of engineering and applied science. Modern materials science evolved directly from metallurgy, which itself evolved from mining. A major breakthrough in the understanding of materials occurred in the late 19th century, when Willard Gibbs demonstrated that thermodynamic properties relating to atomic structure in various phases are related to the physical properties of the material. Important elements of modern materials science are a product of the space race: the understanding and engineering of the metallic alloys and other materials that went into the construction of space vehicles was one of the enablers of space exploration. Materials science has driven, and been driven by, the development of revolutionary technologies such as plastics, semiconductors, and biomaterials.
Before the 1960s (and in some cases decades after), many materials science departments were named metallurgy departments, from a 19th and early 20th century emphasis on metals. The field has since broadened to include every class of materials, including: ceramics, polymers, semiconductors, magnetic materials, medical implant materials and biological materials.
In 2006 the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS) voted on and published the Top 50 Moments in the History of Materials. [1]

Fundamentals of Materials Science
In materials science, rather than haphazardly looking for and discovering materials and exploiting their properties, one instead aims to understand materials fundamentally so that new materials with the desired properties can be created.
The basis of all materials science involves relating the desired properties and relative performance of a material in a certain application to the structure of the atoms and phases in that material through characterization. The major determinants of the structure of a material and thus of its properties are its constituent chemical elements and the way in which it has been processed into its final form. These, taken together and related through the laws of thermodynamics, govern the material’s microstructure, and thus its properties.
An old adage in materials science says: "materials are like people; it is the defects that make them interesting". The manufacture of a perfect crystal of a material is physically impossible. Instead materials scientists manipulate the defects in crystalline materials such as precipitates, grain boundaries (Hall-Petch relationship), interstitial atoms, vacancies or substitutional atoms, creating a material with the desired properties.
Not all materials have a regular crystal structure. Polymers display varying degrees of crystallinity. Glasses, some ceramics, and many natural materials are amorphous, not possessing any long-range order in their atomic arrangements. These materials are much harder to engineer than crystalline materials. Polymers are a mixed case, and their study commonly combines elements of chemical and statistical thermodynamics to give thermodynamical, rather than mechanical descriptions of physical properties.
In addition to industrial interest, materials science has gradually developed into a field which provides tests for condensed matter or solid state theories. New physics emerges because of the diverse new material properties needed to be explained.

Materials in Industry
Radical materials advances can drive the creation of new products or even new industries, but stable industries also employ materials scientists to make incremental improvements and troubleshoot issues with currently used materials. Industrial applications of materials science include materials design, cost-benefit tradeoffs in industrial production of materials, processing techniques (casting, rolling, welding, ion implantation, crystal growth, thin-film deposition, sintering, glassblowing, etc.), and analytical techniques (characterization techniques such as electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, calorimetry, nuclear microscopy (HEFIB), Rutherford backscattering, neutron diffraction, etc.).
Besides material characterisation, the material scientist/engineer also deals with the extraction of materials and their conversion into useful forms. Thus ingot casting, foundry techniques, blast furnace extraction, electrolytic extraction all are part of the required knowledge of a materials scientist/engineer. Often the presence, absence or variation of minute quantities of secondary elements and compounds in a bulk material will have a great impact on the final properties of the materials produced, for instance, steels are classified based on 1/10th and 1/100 weight percentages of the carbon and other alloying elements they contain. Thus, the extraction and purification techniques employed in the extraction of iron in the blast furnace will have an impact of the quality of steel that may be produced.
The overlap between physics and materials science has led to the offshoot field of materials physics, which is concerned with the physical properties of materials. The approach is generally more macroscopic and applied than in condensed matter physics. See the important publications in materials physics for more details on this field of study.
Alloys of metals is an important and significant part of materials science. Of all the metallic alloys in use today, the alloys of iron (steel, stainless steel, cast iron, tool steel, alloy steels) make up the largest proportion both by quantity and commercial value. Iron alloyed with various weight percentages of carbon gives low, mid and high carbon steels. For the steels, the hardness and tensile strength of the steel is directly related to the amount of carbon present, while increasing carbon levels lead to lower ductility and toughness. The addition of silicon and graphitization will produce cast irons (although some cast irons are made precisely with no graphitization). The addition of chromium, nickel and molybdenum to carbon steels (more than 10%) gives us stainless steels.
Other significant metallic alloys are those of aluminium, titanium, copper and magnesium. Copper alloys have been know for a long time (during the Bronze Age), while the alloys of the other three metals have been relatively recently developed, due to the chemical reactivity of these metals and the resultant difficulty in their extraction which wasn't accomplished (electrolytically) until recently. The alloys of aluminium, titanium and magnesium are also known and valued for their high strength to weight ratios and, in the case of magnesium, their ability to provide electromagnetic shielding. These materials find special applications where high strength-weight ratios are desired (aero-space industry).
Other than metals, polymers and ceramics are also an important part of material science. Polymers are the raw materials (the resins) used to make what we commonly call plastics. Plastics really are the final product after a/many polymers and additives have been processed and shaped into a final shape and form. Polymers that have been around and are in current widespread use include polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl-chloride, polystyrene, nylons, polyesters, acrylics, polyurethane, polycarbonates. Plastics are generally classified as "commodity", "specialty" and "engineering" plastics.
PVC is a commodity plastic, it is widely used, low cost and annual quantities are huge. It lends itself to an incredible array of applications, from faux leather to electrical insulation to cabling to packaging and vessels. Its fabrication and processing are simple and well-established. The versatility of PVC is due to the wide range of additives that it accepts. Additives in polymer science refers to the chemicals and compounds added to the polymer base to modify its physical and material properties.
Polycarbon would be normally considered an engineering plastic (other examples include PEEK, ABS). Engineering plastics are valued for their superior strengths and other special material properties. They are usually not used for disposable applications, unlike commodity plastics.
Specialty plastics are really the materials with unique characteristics, such as ultrahigh strength, electrical conductivity, electro-florescence, high thermal stability, etc.
It should be noted here that the dividing line between the various types of plastics is not based on material but rather their properties and applications. For instance, polypropylene (PP) is a cheap, slippery polymer commonly used to make disposable shopping bags and trash bags. It is commodity. But a variety of PP called Ultra-high Molecular Weight Polypropylene (UHMWPE) is an engineering plastic which is used extensively as the glide rails for industrial equipment.
Another application of material science in industry is the making of composite materials. Composite materials are structured materials composed of at least two different macroscopic phases. An example would be steel-reinforced concrete. Also, take a look at the plastic casing of your telly set, cell-phone: these plastic casings are usually a composite made up of a thermoplastic matrix such as acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS)in which calcium carbonate chalk, talc, glass fibres or carbon fibres have been added (dispersants) for added strength, bulk, or electro-static dispersion.

Classes of materials (by bond types)
Materials science encompasses various classes of materials, each of which may constitute a separate field. Materials are sometimes classified by the type of bonding present between the atoms:
Ionic crystals
Covalent crystals
Metals
Intermetallics
Semiconductors
Polymers
Composite materials
Vitreous materials

Sub-fields of materials science
Nanotechnology --- rigorously, the study of materials where the effects of quantum confinement, the Gibbs-Thomson effect, or any other effect only present at the nanoscale is the defining property of the material; but more commonly, it is the creation and study of materials whose defining structural properties are anywhere from less than a nanometer to one hundred nanometers in scale, such as molecularly engineered materials.
Crystallography --- the study of how atoms in a solid fill space, the defects associated with crystal structures such as grain boundaries and dislocations, and the characterization of these structures and their relation to physical properties.
Materials Characterization --- such as diffraction with x-rays, electrons, or neutrons, and various forms of spectroscopy and chemical analysis such as Raman spectroscopy, energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), chromatography, thermal analysis, electron microscope analysis, etc., in order to understand and define the properties of materials. See also List of surface analysis methods
Metallurgy --- the study of metals and their alloys, including their extraction, microstructure and processing.
Biomaterials --- materials that are derived from and/or used with biological systems.
Electronic and magnetic materials --- materials such as semiconductors used to create integrated circuits, storage media, sensors, and other devices.
Tribology --- the study of the wear of materials due to friction and other factors.
Surface science/Catalysis --- interactions and structures between solid-gas solid-liquid or solid-solid interfaces.
Ceramics and refractories --- high temperature materials including structural ceramics such as RCC, polycrystalline silicon carbide and transformation toughened ceramics
Some practitioners often consider rheology a sub-field of materials science, because it can cover any material that flows. However, modern rheology typically deals with non-Newtonian fluid dynamics, so it is often considered a sub-field of continuum mechanics. See also granular material.
Glass Science --- any non-crystalline material including inorganic glasses, vitreous metals and non-oxide glasses.

Topics that form the basis of materials science
Thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, kinetics and physical chemistry, for phase stability, transformations (physical and chemical) and diagrams.
Crystallography and chemical bonding, for understanding how atoms in a material are arranged.
Mechanics, to understand the mechanical properties of materials and their structural applications.
Solid-state physics and quantum mechanics, for the understanding of the electronic, thermal, magnetic, chemical, structural and optical properties of materials.
Diffraction and wave mechanics, for the characterization of materials.
Chemistry and polymer science, for the understanding of plastics, colloids, ceramics, liquid crystals, solid state chemistry, and polymers.
Biology, for the integration of materials into biological systems.
Continuum mechanics and statistics, for the study of fluid flows and ensemble systems.
Mechanics of materials, for the study of the relation between the mechanical behavior of materials and their microstructures.

A short list of non-academic materials facilities

Government labs
Argonne National Laboratory
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Max Planck Institute
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Corporate facilities
DuPont
GE Global Research
IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center

Important Journals
Nature Materials
Acta Materialia
JOM
Advanced Materials
Computational materials science
Advanced Functional Materials
Journal of Materials Chemistry
Journal of Materials Online - Open Access
Metallurgical and Materials Transactions
Journal of Materials Research
Journal of Materials Science

Bibliography
Askeland, Donald R.; Pradeep P. Phulé (2005). The Science & Engineering of Materials, 5th edition, Thomson-Engineering. ISBN 0-534-55396-6.
Gaskell, David R. (1995). Introduction to the Thermodynamics of Materials, 4th edition, Taylor and Francis Publishing. ISBN 1-56032-992-0.
Eberhart, Mark (2003). Why Things Break: Understanding the World by the Way It Comes Apart. Harmony. ISBN 1-4000-4760-9.
Gordon, James Edward (1984). The New Science of Strong Materials or Why You Don't Fall Through the Floor, eissue edition, Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-02380-8.
Callister, Jr., William D. (2000). Materials Science and Engineering - An Introduction, 5th edition, John Wiley and Sons. ISBN 0-471-32013-7.
Walker, Peter (Ed), (1993) Chambers Dictionary of Materials Science and Technology, Chambers Publishing, ISBN-10: 055013249X

See also
Timeline of materials technology
Bio-based materials
Liquid crystal
Important publications in materials science
List of scientific journals - Materials science
List of publications in physics - Materials physics
List of surface analysis methods
List of thermal analysis methods

References
Timeline of Materials Science at The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS) - Accessed March 2007

External links
Materials Science: Sigma-Aldrich
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AB or BA, BAcy, BAdm, BAgrEc, BArch, BBA, BBus, BCom or BComm, BCS, BCL, STB, BD, BDent, BDS, B.Ed., BEc, BEng or BE, BSBME, BFA, BHSc, BGS,BHE, BHK, BID, BJ, BTh, BLibStud, BLIS, BMath, BMedSc or BMedSci, BMus, BSN, BPE, BPharm, BS or BSc or SB, BSc(Agr) or BSA, BSocSci, BSW, BTech, LLA, LLB, MB ChB or MB BS or BM BS or MB BChir or MB BCh BAO, MA (Cantab.), MA (Dubl.), MA (Hons), MA (Oxon.)
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MArch, MA, MAT, MALS or MLS, MS or MSc, MSt, DEA, MAcy, MALD, MApol, MPhil, MRes, MFA, MTech, MBA, MBI, MBT, MComm, MDes, MTh, MTS, MDiv, MEd, MMT, MPA, MPD, MPS, MSN, MProfStuds, MJ, MST, MSW, MPAff, MLIS, MLitt, MPH, MPM, MPP, MPT, MRE, MTheol/ThM/MTh, STM, LLM, MEng, MSci, MBio, MChem, MPhys, MMath, MMedSc or MMedSci, MMus, MESci, MGeol, MTCM, MSSc, BCL (Oxon), BPhil (Oxon), ThM
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Dictionary definition of materials scienceThe American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. More from Dictionary

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