woodchurch science

if you are studying chemistry in year 10 then you will know that oil is not just for energy. you will learn that scientists are developing new plastics and so-called ’smart’ materials.

kettles that change colour and signs that glow-in-the-dark are two recent examples of products becoming ‘smarter’ as a result of new materials. colour-changing thermochromic pigments are now routinely made as inks for paper and fabrics - and incorporated into injection moulded plastics. a new type of phosphorescent pigment, capable of emitting light for up to 10 hours, has opened up entirely new design opportunities for instrumentation, low-level lighting systems etc. more examples can be found here, here for power boots, stunners and minority report stuff and here for more news on new materials.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 20th, 2006 at 7:41 pm and is filed under chemistry, engineering, industrial chem, ks4, warren, y10. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.