Smart Materials

Dexter Yesudas, Imthiyas Arif

Aeronautical Department Sathyabama University Chennai - 119
1

dexteryd@gmail.com

imthiyas_arif@msn.com

Abstract- Smart materials are the materials which show response to input signal by showing change in their physical properties. Some of the stimuli that may act upon these materials are strain, stress, temperature, chemicals (including pH stimuli), electric field, magnetic field, hydrostatic pressure, different types of radiation, and other forms of stimuli. The effect can be caused by absorption of a proton, a chemical reaction, integration of a series of events, and others. The effects produced can be a color change, a change in index of refraction, a change in the distribution of stresses and strains, or a volume change. The action of receiving and responding to stimuli to produce a useful effect must be reversible. Materials that formally have the label of being smart include piezoelectric materials, electrostrictive materials, electrorheological materials, magnetorheological materials, thermoresponsive materials, pH-sensitive materials, UV-sensitive materials, smart polymers, smart gels (hydrogels), smart catalysts, and shape memory alloys. Development of smart materials will change the face of all the industries. This paper reviews the smart material properties, classification of its types and applications .

II. Classification of Smart materials

1. Piezoelectric Materials The simplest definition of piezoelectric materials can be obtained by first dividing the word into piezo and electric. Piezo is from the Greek word piezein, which means to press tightly or squeeze. Combining piezein with electric, we have squeeze electricity. The piezoelectric effect exists in a number of naturally occurring crystals, such as quartz, tourmaline, and sodium potassium tartrate. For a crystal to exhibit the piezoelectric effect, it must not have a center of symmetry. When a stress (tensile or compressive) is applied to a crystal with a center of symmetry, it will alter the spacing between the positive and negative sites in each elementary cell unit, thus causing a net polarization at the crystal surface. The effect is approximately linear. The polarization is directly related to the applied stress. It is direction dependent. Thus, compressive and tensile forces will generate electric fields and voltages of opposite polarity. The effect is also reciprocal; thus, when the crystal is exposed to an electric field, it undergoes an elastic strain changing its length based upon the field polarity. The ceramic-type materials play an important role in the area of piezoelectrics. Piezoelectric ceramics are polycrystalline ferroelectric materials with a perovskite- crystal-type structure. The crystal structure is tetragonal /rhombohedral with a close proximity to cubic in nature. Piezoelectric ceramics have the general formula of A2_B4_ O2_, where A represents a large divalent metal ion such as barium or lead and B is 3 one or more tetravalent metal ions such as titanium, zirconium, or manganese. These ceramics are considered to be masses of minute crystallites that change crystal forms at the Curie temperature. Above the Curie temperature, the ceramic crystallites have a simple cubic symmetry. This form is

Keywords: - Smart response, reversible

materials,

stimuli,

memory,

I. INTRODUCTION
Smart behavior occurs when a material can sense some stimulus from its environment and react to it in a useful, reliable, reproducible and usually reversible manner. A really Smart material will use its reaction to the external stimulus to initiate or actuate an active response.

centrosymmetric with positive and negative charge sites coinciding; thus there are no dipoles present. The material is considered to be paraelectric. Below the Curie temperature, the ceramic crystallites have a tetragonal symmetry; this form lacks a center of symmetry with the positive and negative charge sites no longer coinciding, thus each unit cell has an electric dipole whose direction may be reversed and switched by the application of an electric field. The material is now considered to be ferroelectric.

magnetic field is applied, the boundaries between the domains shift and the domains rotate; both of these effects cause a change in the material's dimensions. Magnetorestrictive materials are usually inorganic in chemical composition and are alloys of iron and nickel and doped with rare earths. The most effective magnetorestrictive material is another alloy developed at the Naval Ordinance Laboratory, TERFENOL-D. It is an alloy of terbium, dysprosium, and iron. The full effect of magnetorestriction occurs in crystalline materials. One factor preventing magnetorestrictive materials from reaching commercial significance has been cost. Over the past three decades there has been a great deal of development of giant magnetorestrictive materials, colossal magnetorerestrictive materials, and organic and organometallic magnets.

A series of polyimides has been developed at NASA Langley for use in piezoelectric applications. These polyimides have pendant trifluoromethyl (CF3) and cyano (CN) polar groups. Whenever these polyimides are exposed to applied voltages of the order of 100 MV/ m at elevated temperatures, the polar groups develop a high degree of orientation, resulting in polymer films with high piezoelectric and pyroelectric properties. The piezoelectric response for these polyimides is in the same vicinity as those of PVDF at room temperature. However, the piezoelectric response of the polyimides is greater at elevated temperatures. A series of polyimides has been developed at NASA Langley for use in piezoelectric applications. These polyimides have pendant trifluoromethyl (CF3) and cyano (CN) polar groups. Whenever these polyimides are exposed to applied voltages of the order of 100 MV/ m at elevated temperatures, the polar groups develop a high degree of orientation, resulting in polymer films with high piezoelectric and pyroelectric properties. The piezoelectric response for these polyimides is in the same vicinity as those of PVDF at room temperature. However, the piezoelectric response of the polyimides is greater at elevated temperatures. In should be denoted that piezoelectric materials are also pyroelectric. They generate an electric charge as they undergo a temperature change. Whenever their temperature is increased, a voltage develops having the same orientation as the polarization voltage. Whenever the temperature is decreased, a voltage develops with orientation opposite to the polarization voltage.

3. Magnetorheological materials Magnetorheological materials (fluids) are the magnetic equivalent of electrorheological fluids. These fluids consist of ferromagnetic or erromagnetic particles that are either dispersed or suspended and the applied stimulus is a magnetic field. A simple magnetorheological fluid consists of iron powder in motor oil. The Lord Corporation provided a clever demonstration of magnetorheological fluids. It supplied an interlocking two-plastic-syringe system filled with a magnetorheological fluid and two small magnets. The fluid flows freely, without the magnets placed in the middle of the two syringes. With the two magnets in place, the fluid flows completely. An interesting adaptation of magnetorestrictive fluids is a series of clastomeric matrix composites embedded with iron particles. During the thermal cure of the elastomer, a strong magnetic field was applied to align the iron particles into chains. These chains of iron particles were locked into place within the composite through a crosslinked network of the cured elastomer. If a compressive force stimulated the composite, it was 60% more resistant to deformation in a magnetic field. If the composite was subjected to a shear force, its magnetic-fieldinduced modulus was an order of magnitude higher than its modulus in a zero magnetic field. There continues to be a great deal of research into magnets and magnetism. A new area of research involves magnetic nanocomposite films. Magnetic particles exhibit size effects. Below a critical size, magnetic clusters comprise single domains, whereas with bulk materials there are multiple domains. Nanomagnets show unusual properties of magnetism, such as

2. Magnetostrictive materials Magnetorestrictive materials are materials that have the material response of mechanical deformation when stimulated by a magnetic field. Shape changes are the largest in ferromagnetic materials. Internally, ferromagnetic materials have a structure that is divided into domains, each of which is a region of uniform magnetic polarization. When a

superparamagnetism and quantum tunneling. These unique properties of magnetic nanoclusters can lead to applications in information storage, color imaging, magnetic refrigeration, ferrofluids, cell storage, medical diagnosis, and controlled drug delivery. A nanocomposite is considered to be the incorporation of these nanoclusters into polymeric matrices such as polyaniline. 4. pH-Sensitive Materials By far, the widely known chemical classes of pHsensitive materials are the acids, bases, and indicators. The indicators fit the definition of smart materials by changing color as a function of pH and the action is reversible. Other examples of pHsensitive materials include some of the smart gels and smart polymers mentioned in this chapter. There are a large number of pH-sensitive polymers and gels that are used in biotechnology and medicine. Usually these materials are prepared from various combinations of such monomers and polymers such as methacrylic acid, methyl methacrylate, carboxymethylethyl cellulose, cellulose acetate, cellulose phthalate, hydroxypropylmethylcellulose phthalate, hydroxypropylmethylcellulose acetate, hydroxypropylmethylcellulose succinate, diethylaminoethyl methacrylate, and butyl methacrylate. pH sensitive or pH responsive polymers are materials which will respond to the changes in the pH of the surrounding medium by varying their dimensions. Such materials swell or collapse depending on the pH of their environment. This behaviour is exhibited due to the presence of certain functional groups in the polymer chain. There are two kinds of pH sensitive materials: one which have acidic group (-COOH, -SO3H) and swell in basic pH, and others which have basic groups (NH2) and swell in acidic pH. Polyacrylic acid is an example of the former and Chitosan is an example of the latter. The mechanism of response is same for both, just the stimuli vary. The response is triggered due to the presence of ionisable functional groups (like -COOH, -NH2) which get ionized and acquire a charge (+/-) in a certain pH. The polymer chains now have many similarly charged groups which cause repulsion and hence the material expands in dimensions. The opposite happens when pH changes and the functional groups lose their charge hence the repulsion is gone and the material collapses back.

These materials are being extensively used in controlled drug delivery systems, biomimetics and responsive plasmonics. 5. Light-Sensitive Materials There are several different material families that exhibit different behavior to a light stimulus. Electrochromism is a change in color as a function of an electrical field. Other types of behavior for lightsensitive materials are thermochromism (color change with heat), photochromism (colour change with light), and photostrictism (shape changes caused by changes in electronic configuration due to light). Chemicals that are photosensitive may undergo chemical reactions when exposed to light. These chemicals, such as hydrogen peroxide and many prescription drugs, are stored in tinted or opaque containers until they are needed to prevent photodegradation. Devices that are photosensitive include the human retina and photographic film; their photosensitive materials undergo a chemical reaction when struck by light. Typical substances that are photosensitive are alkali salts and silver halides. 6. Smart (Intelligent) Gels (Hydrogels) Smart gels contain fluids (usually water) in a matrix of large, complex polymers. These polymers are special in that they respond to stimuli in an advanced way. Types of stimuli that affect smart gels are physical and chemical factors. Temperature, light, electric forces, magnetic forces, and mechanical forces (shaking) are types of physical interactions on the gel that will precipitate a reaction. Chemical stimuli are usually pH changes or solvent exchanges (Hirai). The reaction of the smart gel is always an expansion or contraction within milliseconds upon stimulation. Essentially, when a gel swells, it absorbs additional fluid into it. Likewise, when it deflates, it expels this fluid out of its membrane. The expansion and contraction are usually caused by a change in the polymer; the stimulus alters the polymer by making it more or less hydrophilic. For example a significant pH decrease will neutralize ions in the gel, precipitating the polymers to be less hydrophilic and causing the gel to contract. The concept of smart gels is a combination of the simple concept of solvent-swollen polymer networks in conjunction with the material being able to respond to other types of stimuli. A partial list of these stimuli includes temperature, pH, chemicals,

Concentration of solvents, ionic strength, pressure, stress, light intensity, electric fields, magnetic fields, and different types of radiation. The founding father of these smart gels, Toyochi Tanaka, first observed this phenomenon in swollen clear polyacrylamide gels. Upon cooling, these gels would cloud up and become opaque. Upon warming these gels regained their clarity. Upon further investigation to explain this behavior, it was found that some gel systems could expand to hundreds of times their original volume or could collapse to expel up to 90% of its fluid content with a stimulus of only a 1_C change in temperature. Similar behavior was observed with a change of 0.1 pH unit. These types of behaviors led to the development of gel-based actuators, values, sensors, control-led release systems for drugs and other substances, artificial muscles for robotic devices, chemical memories, optical shutters, molecular separation systems, and toys. Other potential systems for the development of products with smart (intelligent) gels (hydrogels) include paints, adhesives, recyclable absorbents, bioreactors, bioassay systems, and display. 7. Shape Memory Alloys A shape-memory alloy is an alloy that "remembers" its original, cold-forged shape: returning to the predeformed shape when heated. This material is a lightweight, solid-state alternative to conventional actuators such as hydraulic, pneumatic, and motor-based systems. These materials undergo a thermomechanical change as they pass from one phase to another. The crystalline structure of such materials, such as nickeltitanium alloys, enters into the martensitic phase as the alloy is cooled below a critical temperature. In this stage the material is easily manipulated through large strains with a little change in stress. As the temperature of the material is increased above the critical temperature, it transforms into the austenitic phase. In this phase the material regains its high strength and high modulus and behaves normally. The material shrinks during the change from the martensitic to the austenitic phase. Nickeltitanium alloys have been the most used shape memory material. This family of nickel titanium alloys is known as Nitinol, after the laboratory where this material was first observed (Nickel Titanium Naval Ordinance Laboratory).

include copper-aluminum-nickel, copper-zincaluminum, and iron- manganese-silicon alloys.

8. Electrostrictive materials Electrostriction is a property of all electrical nonconductors, or dielectrics that causes them to change their shape under the application of an electric field. Electrostriction is a property of all dielectric materials, and is caused by the presence of randomly aligned electrical domains within the material. When an electric field is applied to the dielectric, the opposite sides of the domains become differently charged and attract each other, reducing material thickness in the direction of the applied field (and increasing thickness in the orthogonal directions characterized by Poisson's ratio). The resulting strain (ratio of deformation to the original dimension) is proportional to the square of the polarization. Reversal of the electric field does not reverse the direction of the deformation. Electrostriction can produce a strain of 0.1% at field strength of 2 million volts per meter (2 MV/m) for the material called PMN-15 (TRS website listed in the references below). The effect appears to be quadratic at low field strengths (up to 0.3 MV/m) and roughly linear after that, up to maximum field strength of 4 MV/m. Therefore, devices made of such materials are normally operated around a bias voltage in order to behave nearly linearly. This will probably cause deformations to lead to a change of electric charge, but this is unconfirmed. 9. Electrorheological materials Electrorheological (ER) fluids are suspensions of extremely fine non-conducting particles (up to 50 micrometers diameter) in an electrically insulating fluid. The apparent viscosity of these fluids changes reversibly by an order of up to 100,000 in response to an electric field. For example, a typical ER fluid can go from the consistency of a liquid to that of a gel, and back, with response times on the order of milliseconds. The effect is sometimes called the Winslow effect, after its discoverer the American inventor Willis Winslow, who obtained a US patent on the effect in 1947 and wrote an article published in 1949.
10. Smart Polymers Smart polymers refer to polymeric systems that are capable of responding strongly to slight changes in the external medium: a first-order transition accompanied by a sharp decrease in the specific volume of the polymer. If the external medium is temperature, this transition is known as the glass transition temperature of the polymer and several properties of the polymer change. Among these

Nitinol has been used in military, medical, safety, and robotics applications. Other shape memory alloys

properties are volume, coefficient of thermal expansion, specific heat, heat conductivity, modulus, and permeation. Manipulating the detection around the glass transition temperature of the polymer can develop in smart devices. There are numerous examples of product development that has resulted in failure because the glass transition temperature of the polymer was not considered. It should be noted that as the polymer cools down from high temperatures to below its glass transition temperature its below-glass transition properties are returned and vice versa. Smart polymers can respond to stimuli such as temperature, pH, chemical species, light, UV radiation, recognition, electric fields, magnetic fields, and other types of stimuli. The resulting response can be changes in phase, shape, optics, mechanical strength, electrical and thermal properties, reaction rate, and permeation rate. Another factor in the effectiveness of smart polymers lies in the inherent nature of polymers in general. The strength of each molecules response to changes in stimuli is the composite of changes of individual monomer units which, alone, would be weak. However, these weak responses, compounded hundreds or thousands of times, create a considerable force for driving biological processes. 11. Smart Catalysts The development of smart catalysts is a new field of investigation and has shown a great deal of activity in universities of the oil-producing states. One such smart catalyst is rhodium based with a poly(ethylene oxide) backbone. Smart catalysts such as this one function opposite to a traditional catalyst; that is, as the temperature increases, they become less soluble, precipitating out of the reaction solution, thus becoming inactive. As the reaction solution cools down, the smart catalyst re-dissolves and thus becomes active again. Other smart catalyst systems are being developed that dissociate at high temperatures (less active) and recombine at low temperatures (more active).

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III.
i.

Applications of Smart materials

Piezoelectric materials have been used in thousands of applications in a wide variety of products in the consumer, industrial, medical, aerospace, and military sectors. When a piezoelectric material is subjected to a mechanical stress, an electric charge is generated across the material. The converse effect occurs when a piezoelectric material becomes strained

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when placed in an electric field. Under constant-stress conditions, the general equation for the piezoelectric charge coefficient d can be expressed as the change in the strain S of the piezoelectric material as a function of the applied electric field E. The first practical application for piezoelectric devices was Sonar, first developed during World War I. An ultrasonic submarine detector consisted of a transducer, made of thin quartz crystals detect the returned echo. By emitting a highfrequency chirp from the transducer, and measuring the amount of time it takes to hear an echo from the sound waves bouncing off an object, one can calculate the distance to that object. Currently, industrial and manufacturing is the largest application market for piezoelectric devices, followed by the automotive industry. Strong demand also comes from medical instruments as well as information and telecommunications. magnetostrictive filter (electronics)Filter network which uses the magnetostrictive phenomena to form high-pass, low-pass, band-pass, or band-elimination filters; the impedance characteristic is the inverse of that of a crystal. Loudspeaker in which the mechanical forces result from the deformation of a material having magnetostrictive properties. The normal application of ER fluids is in fast acting hydraulic valves and clutches, with the separation between plates being in the order of 1 mm and the applied potential being in the order of 1 kV. In simple terms, when the electric field is applied, an ER hydraulic valve is shut or the plates of an ER clutch are locked together, when the electric field is removed the ER hydraulic valve is open or the clutch plates are disengaged. Other common applications are in ER brakes (think of a brake as a clutch with one side fixed) and shock absorbers (which can be thought of as closed hydraulic systems where the shock is used to try to pump fluid through a valve). There are many novel uses for these fluids, including use in the US army's planned future force warrior project. They plan to create bulletproof vests using an ER fluid because the ability to soak the fluid

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into cloth creates the potential for a very light vest that can change from a normal cloth into a hard covering almost instantaneously. Other potential uses are in accurate abrasive polishing and as haptic controllers and tactile displays. ER fluid has also been proposed to have potential applications in flexible electronics, with the fluid incorporated in elements such as rollable screens and keypads, in which the viscosity-changing qualities of the fluid allowing the rollable elements to become rigid for use, and flexible to roll and retract for storing when not in use.

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REFERENCES

[1] Mechanical Engineers Handbook: Materials and Mechanical Design, Volume 1, Third Edition.

[2] Smart Materials and Structures M.V. Gandhi, B. S AUTOR THOMPSON [3] Piezoelectric Actuators and Ultrasonic Motors
Kenji Uchino

IV.

CONCLUSIONS

Smart materials are materials with great potential. They can be used in many fields which can harness the growth of various industries to a great extent. There are many more materials which are to be discovered. If these materials are synthesized properly and efficiently, these can be the best replacement for other bulky and cost effective objects. In Aeronautics, designing of an aircraft is done with the aim of reducing the weight of the aircraft and improve its efficiency. Smart materials can serve as best alternate for fulfilling these and many other requirements. Smart materials have immense scope in the future developments.