A D V A N C E D M A T E R I A L S & P R O C E S S E S | O C T O B E R 2 0 2 2 8 METALS | POLYMERS | CERAMICS Constellium, Paris, will supply aluminum auto body sheet products for the Mercedes-Benz C-Class produced in Europe, China, and South Africa and sold globally. Constellium will provide aluminum for the hood, roof, tailgate, and fenders of the C-Class from its ASI-certified plant in Neuf-Brisach, France. constellium.com. The DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tenn., was selected to lead an Energy Frontier Research Center focused on polymer electrolytes for nextgeneration energy storage devices such as fuel cells and solid-state electric vehicle batteries. The award will provide $11.5 million over four years. ornl.gov. Solar Atmospheres Inc., Hermitage, Pa., acquired Vac-Met Inc., Warren, Mich. Over the past four decades, Vac-Met developed a strong heat treating business throughout the Midwest. The addition of Vac-Met brings Solar’s commercial vacuum heat treating and brazing facilities to a total of five plants across the country. solaratm.com. BRIEFS magnetic materials (SMMs). According to the team, which includes scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Iron Research (MPIE) and the Technical University of Darmstadt, both in Germany, along with China’s Central South University, the new work paves the way for advanced applications like high-speed motors. Currently employed SMMs are prone to damage under severe mechanical loads. According to the team, introducing nanoparticles into SMMs pins the movement of the domain walls and decreases the magnetizing force. The scientists discovered that the size of the nanoparticles plays a crucial role for both the mechanical strength and ductility of the magnets and their magnetism. The team demonstrated their design concept in a multicomponent alloy system containing iron, nickel, cobalt, tantalum, and aluminum with multifunctional properties. Materials based Mechanochromic and self-healing coatings on diverse substrates. Courtesy of Korea Institute of Science and Technology. SELF-HEALING COATINGS REPORT DAMAGE Researchers at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul, developed a new polymeric coating that is self-healing and reports area-specific damage by changing color. In addition, the team’s thermoset polymer can recover its original chemical structure after being disrupted by an external stimulus, thus allowing this material to self-report damage and self-heal multiple times. To make the material, the researchers synthesized a mechanochromic molecule and a thermoset polymer containing a molecule that can be separated and re-formed by temperature. The research team used molecular dynamics simulations to predict and confirm that only certain desired chemical bonds are selectively cleaved when a mechanical force is applied to yield a colored structure. When implemented, the damaged part of the synthesized polymeric coating exhibited purple. When a temperature of 100°C or higher was applied, the material became colorless, processable, and physically healed. The novel multifunctional polymeric coating can be extensively used in automotive, marine, defense, timber, railway, highway, and aerospace industries, and can significantly contribute toward the reduction of industrial waste. In addition, the researchers say, the material can be used as artificial skin for robots, since its functionality is similar to that of skin and doesn’t require an external energy source. www.kist. re.kr/eng. STRONGER SOFT MAGNETIC MATERIALS An international research team created a new design strategy to increase the lifetime of soft So magnetic materials can be made more ductile and stronger through nanoparticles. Courtesy of Tianyi You/Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung GmbH.
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