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Explain how smart materials can be used by manufacturers to improve health and safety for children’s products and goods.
Answers
Answer:
Explanation:
‘Smart’ materials and systems sense and respond to
their environment and have applications in areas as
diverse as health, defence and packaging. The UK has a
long track record of research in this area and the
government has launched a number of initiatives to
encourage exploitation of this research. This POSTnote
gives an overview of current research and potential
applications. It also examines the factors driving smart
materials research and those holding back their
exploitation.
Background
The most commonly accepted definition is that smart
materials and systems can sense and respond to the
environment around them in a predictable and useful
manner. For example, the ‘photochromic’ materials used
in reactive spectacle lenses become darker in response to
increased light. Smart materials arise from research in
many different areas and there is a large overlap with
nanotechnology. Some types of smart material are
described in Box 1.
Smart systems also sense their environment and
respond, but are not constructed from a single material.
They may incorporate smart materials, but can also be
constructed using traditional technology. Pacemakers are
a smart system designed to respond to an irregular heart
rate with an electrical impulse that regulates it.
The significance of smart materials and systems
Smart materials and systems open up new possibilities,
such as clothes that can interact with a mobile phone or
structures that can repair themselves. They also allow
existing technology to be improved. Using a smart
material instead of conventional mechanisms to sense
and respond, can simplify devices, reducing weight and
the chance of failure.
Box 1. Types of smart material
Smart materials sense changes in the environment around
them and respond in a predictable manner. Some types of
smart materials include:
Piezoelectric - Applying a mechanical stress to these
materials generates an electric current. Piezoelectric
microphones transform changes in pressure caused by
sound waves into an electrical signal.
Shape memory - After deformation these materials can
remember their original shape and return to it when heated.
Applications include shape memory stents - tubes threaded
into arteries that expand on heating to body temperature to
allow increased blood flow.
Thermochromic - These materials change colour in response
to changes in temperature. They have been used in bath
plugs that change colour when the water is too hot.
Photochromic - These materials change colour in response
to changes in light conditions. Uses include security inks
and dolls that ‘tan’ in the sun.
Magnetorheological - These fluids become solid when
placed in a magnetic field. They can be used to construct
dampers that suppress vibrations. These can be fitted to
buildings and bridges to suppress the damaging effects of,
for example, high winds or earthquakes.
The commercial importance of smart materials is
beginning to be recognised. In 2003, smart materials
were the subject of a report produced by the Foresight
Materials Panel - a government funded project that brings
experts together to provide technological visions of the
future.1
It predicted that “the key to 21st century
competitive advantage will be the development of
products with increasing levels of functionality. Smart
materials will play a critical role in this development”.
Some experts believe that adding functionality in this way
offers the best opportunity for UK industry to compete
with low priced imports.
postnote January 2008 Number 299 Smart Materials and Systems Page 2
Smart materials research is of long standing but
commercial exploitation has been slow. The Foresight
report concluded that “smart materials technology
provides an excellent opportunity for the UK. However,
despite significant progress over the last five years,
supported by various government programmes, it [the
UK] remains relatively poorly positioned worldwide”.
Answer:
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