Abstract
This chapter presents the subject and objectives of the book Materials That Change Color in the context of applied research and concept design. The implications of the techno-scientific research on theories and methods of design are outlined. Technical opportunities for new qualities given to objects of everyday life, like sensitivity, interactivity, communication skills and sustainability are analyzed from the perspective of design. In addition, the chapter discusses the implications of the extraordinary performance of the new materials on the broader meanings that new products present for users and on the visions of phenomenological reality in a cultural and socio-economic framework that characterizes the contemporary world. Some terms such as smart materials and smart systems are described and their role in design is shortly introduced. It is intended to provide designers the tools to develop skills necessary for innovative ways of thinking about materials and their relationship with technologies.
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Notes
- 1.
In a program solicitation of the National Science Foundation it was stated as follows (NSF 2000): “One nanometer (one billionth of a meter) is a magical point on the dimensional scale. Nanostructures are at the confluence of the smallest of human-made devices and the largest molecules of living systems… A revolution has begun in science, engineering, and technology based on the ability to organize, characterize, and manipulate matter systematically at the nanoscale. Far-reaching outcomes for the Twenty-first century are envisioned in both scientific knowledge and a wide range of technologies in most industries, healthcare, conservation of materials and energy, biology, environment, and education”.
- 2.
All classical physics was constructed around the mechanistic Newtonian model of the universe in which all physical phenomena took place. This was the three dimensional space of the classical Euclidian geometry: an absolute space, always steady and unchangeable. All the changes occurring in the physical world were described as a function of a separate dimension, called time. Also this was absolute, which did not have any link to the material world, which was flowing evenly from the past to the future, through the present. The elements of the Newtonian world, which were moving in this space and in this absolute time were material particles. In mathematical equations, these were treated as material points and Newton considered them as small, solid, indestructible objects from which all material was comprised. This model was very similar to the atomistic model of the ancient Greeks. Both were based on the distinction between empty and full and between material and space. In both of the models, the particles remained identical to themselves in mass and form and thus matter was always conserved and essentially inert.
- 3.
The formulation of the quantum theory began when Max Planck discovered that the energy of thermal radiation is not emitted in a continuous manner but in energy packages. Einstein called these energy packages quanta and postulated that light and all other forms of electromagnetic radiation can present themselves not only as electromagnetic waves but also in the form of quanta. Light quanta, which gave the name to quantum mechanics, were subsequently been accepted as real particles and are now called photons. However, these are special particles lacking mass and always, in motion at the speed of light. At subatomic level, matter is not situated at precise locations but they demonstrate a tendency to be present in a certain place while atomic events do not occur with certainty at a determined time but they show a tendency to take place.
- 4.
Hence the acceptance of the foundations of quantum mechanics:
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The objective state of matter is characterized by a superposition of several states.
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There is no objective reality of matter but only a reality that is determined by observations of a person from time to time.
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The fundamental dynamics of the micro-world are characterized by contingency.
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It is possible that, under certain conditions, matter can “communicate at a distance” or could “appear” from nothing.
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- 5.
The current concept of atom is that of a complex dynamic system with the dimensions at the range of one tenth of a nanometer, composed of various types of neutral and charged particles. Negatively charged particles, i.e. electrons, orbit around a central nucleus, circa hundred thousand times smaller than the atom, in which almost all the mass is enclosed. Only those electrons less attached to the nucleus participate in complex processes of activation (during which the atom literally changes form), which give place to the stabilization of the chemical bond between atoms of condensed matter.
- 6.
Up until 1982, scientists were not able to obtain an undistorted and direct image of atoms. In 1982, Binnig and Rohrer succeeded to get an atomic resolution image of the surface of silicon atoms with the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) that their team had developed (Wiesendanger 1994).
- 7.
The invention of STM represents, even if only partially, the breakage of barriers between the atomic (or nanoscopic) world and the everyday experience of people. Despite the fact that the atomic structure was described by theoretical physics since the 1930s, even today, most of the experimental data is of an indirect nature, provided mainly by techniques such as spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and electron microscopy. However, tools such as STM and atomic force microscopy, which have the ability to see and manipulate single atoms, are becoming more common. This permitted to understand that at the scale ranging between a few nanometers and the dimension of a single atom (0.1 nm), the properties of materials depend strongly on the dimension. Thus, a metallic particle can become transparent, a semiconductor particle can change color, another one can melt at a temperature significantly lower than the common counterpart, etc. All this without changing the chemical composition but only acting on the size. The wonderful performance of many smart materials are linked to this effect.
- 8.
Already in 1851, at the Great Exhibition in London, the architectural theorist Gottfried Semper affirmed the importance of design to “appropriate” the new tools that modern technology provides.
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Ferrara, M., Bengisu, M. (2014). Introduction. In: Materials that Change Color. SpringerBriefs in Applied Sciences and Technology(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-00290-3_1
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