ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES | SEPTEMBER 2024 6 METALS | POLYMERS | CERAMICS According to a new report from MarketsandMarkets Research, the metal recycling market is projected to grow from $551.9 billion in 2024 to $767.9 billion by 2029 at a CAGR of 6.8%. Metal recycling involves converting both ferrous and non-ferrous scrap into new products. marketsandmarkets.com. a pathway to make new titanium alloys with exceptional combinations of strength and ductility. The team tailored the chemical composition and lattice structure of the alloys while also adjusting processing techniques for producing the material at industrial scale. The improvements could have applications in the aerospace sector. Titanium alloys have been important because of their exceptional mechanical properties, corrosion resistance, and light weight when compared to steels, for example. The structure of titanium alloys, all the way down to atomic scale, governs their properties. Through careful selection of the alloying elements and their relative proportions, scientists can create various structures, allowing for different property combinations—both for cryogenic and elevated temperatures. In addition to choosing the right alloying materials and proportions, the team found, steps in the materials processing turned out to play an important role. A technique METAL-INSULATOR SUPERCRYSTAL DISCOVERY A research team led by Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., discovered a supercrystal formation previously unobserved in a metal-insulating material, potentially unlocking new ways to engineer materials and devices with tunable electronic properties. The researchers showed that the atomic structure in the thin-film Mott insulator Ca2RuO4—part of a unique family of materials that can switch between being a metal and an insulator due to quantum effects—forms an anisotropic, organized pattern with multiple spatial periods below temperatures of 200 to 250 K. Previously, the group developed an analysis technique combining high-powered x-rays, phase-retrieval algorithms, and machine learning that could provide a real-space visualization of materials at the nanoscale. This technique revealed a new type of straininduced nanopattern that spontaneously forms in Ca2RuO4 during cooling to cryogenic temperatures. By zooming out, the latest research showed that the 10-nanometer structure was embedded in a larger supercrystal. The versatile control capabilities of Mott insulators make them ideal materials for various applications, including memory elements and optical switches. Switchable structures such as the supercrystal state in Ca2RuO4 could offer a powerful means of influencing the energy balance between competing ground states, according to the researchers. They also say this switch in the preferential direction of the current gives them a new means of controlling technologically relevant properties, potentially not just in this material, but in others as well. cornell.edu. DESIGNING STRONGER TITANIUM ALLOYS A collaborative group of researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, working with ATI Specialty Materials, Dallas, discovered Mango Materials, Redwood City, Calif., developed a new process to convert methane into polyhydroxyalkanoate, which can be compounded into 100% biodegradable polyester pellets to form durable goods, fabrics, and flexible films. mangomaterials.com. BRIEFS Depiction of x-ray nanodi raction and local resistivity measurements shedding light on a novel supercrystal state. Courtesy of Oleg Gorobtsov. A new method for creating titanium alloys could lead to unprecedented strength and ductility.
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