Material Science (Electric Car)

Material science is the scientific study of material and its property for improving engineer design. It is an applied science, which studies the relationship between the structure and properties of materials. Material can be categorized in different categories. The main categories are metals, polymeric, ceramics, composites and semiconductors. Metal comprises 24% of the mass of the planet. Metals can be categorized into two categories: ferrous metals and alloys and Non-ferrous metals and alloys. Ferrous metals consist of, carbon steels, irons, stainless steels, alloy steels and die steels. Non-ferrous metals consist of copper, magnesium, aluminum, nickel, precious metals, refractory metals, titanium and super alloys.

Polymers are materials, which have many chemically bonded together units, which form a solid. Examples of polymeric are thermalplastic plastics, thermoset plastic and elastomers. Ceramics can be defined as inorganic non metal structures that came from powdered materials and heated to mould products. Ceramics are strong, brittle, and hard and have low electric conductivity (National Academies Press 71). Ceramics consist of glasses, glass ceramites, graphite and diamond. Composites are a combination of two or more distinctive properties, which retain their original forms to form materials that cannot be formed if the materials are alone. Examples of composites are concrete, reinforced plastics, sandwich structures, and ceramics–matrix composite and metal-matrix composite. Semiconductors are materials, which have a resistivity between the conductor and insulator and conduct current poorly at normal room temperature. Examples of semiconductor materials are germanium, silicon and carbon.

Emerging materials are materials and structures, which are enhanced by the processing methodologies to enhance the successfulness of the silicon based CMOS technology. Examples of the emerging materials are silicon on diamond, silicon on aluminum oxide, silicon on SI, germanium channel transmitor, carbon nanotubes, high resistivity SI, phase change memory and   Optical interconnection on SI.

Material science and engineering is a branch of science, which studies the behavior of materials in relation to their structures. Engineers are people who use their skills and dedication to solve the problems. Skills adapted in material science course help in solving problems  by making work better, more efficient, and skillfully. An engineer in this field must combine knowledge with a range of skills and experiences. The best and recommended way to get experience is by having internships, summer job or co-op. Co-op is the process when a student alternates education with a job (Ginley 444). This proves to be important, because the student can gain knowledge and skills in the classroom, and experience, and perfection of the skills while working. Examples of jobs in the field include a development engineer where one can work in Semiconductor industry. One can also work as a manufactural engineer, working in an automotive industry. Another job in this field includes working as a process engineer where one can work in a consumer product industry. One can also secure a job as project engineer to work in a communication industry or get a job as a materials engineer, and work in a medical device industry.

If a student wants to qualify for the material engineering undergraduate programme, he or she must complete the following criteria. One must attended a mathematical class, calculus 1 and 2, each for five hours, general mechanics in physics for four hours and general chemistry.

Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology is the ability to generate new ideas through controlling features at a remarkably small scale. Nano is an extremely small element. The Romans used Nano particles to make glass and ceramics. Nano technology has been used to make new elements. Working at nanometer gives tremendous chances of generating and working weighty ideas. Any product that measures less than one mm falls under nanotechnology (Hummel 111). Nanotechnology unites biotechnology and genetic engineering (living) and non living with unlimited potential to co, and to manufacture cost effective, and innovative products.

Fullerenes

 Fullerene is a molecule, which consists of 20 hexagonal and 12 pentagonal rings of carbon. Every carbon atom is bonded to three others and is sp 2 hybridized. This forms C60.Carbon nanotubes are carbon allotrope with a cylindrical nanostructure. These nanotubes have unusual characters, which make them valuable for nanotechnology, optics, electric and material science. Bucky balls look like a nanometer spherical ball made from 60 atoms of carbon. Carbon can form the hardest metal on earth, which is diamond. It also forms the softest metal on earth that is graphite. Carbon nanotubes can be used in AFM probe tips, flat panel display screens, nanocomposite materials, hydrogen storage and artificial muscles. It can also be used in chemical sensor, nanoscale electronics, and drug delivery with buck balls.

Biomimicry

Biomimicry is the study of nature and its systems, processes, elements in order to find inspiration to solve human problems. The biggest application of biomimicry is the spider silk. Notable glands in the spiders’ body made this silk and pound for pound, it is three times as hard as steel. Biomimicry is also used in the making of robots where animal bodies are mimicked. Biomimicry is used in making biosensors. These used highly toxic level of drugs that are used to treat cancer and detect the changing level of viruses in the body.

Electric cars

An electric car is defined as an automotive vehicle, which motors propelled and powered   by external rechargeable electric battery instead of having the normal internal combustion engine. Unlike a hybrid type of car, which uses gasoline and motor to improve efficiency, a hybrid car uses just electricity. They do no execute emissions and are remarkably easy to operate. They reduce people's spending on oil.

How an electric car works have been raising eye brows to some individuals. When the car is turned on, passing an electric current through a wire loop makes the electric car convert electrical energy to mechanical energy. The wire loop produces a magnetic field, which transfers energy to the shaft. It turns the loop creating mechanical energy. This mechanical energy propels the engine moving the vehicle forward. Having an electric car can be beneficial since it saves ones money on use on gasoline and it is fair to the environment. When choosing to make an electric car, it is advantageous to choose traditional cars (Allhoff 54). This is because their spares can be found easily. They should be lightweight, which enable them to have a better run on electric battery than bigger vehicles. One should choose a car with manual transmission. This is because electric vehicles do not need a transmission. An automatic transmission will waste the car’s energy. One should look for a car that does not require professionalism to assemble. ADC with diminutive body is the standard car for electric car conversion. One needs to have a primary and backup battery before building the car. The preferable battery is the gel-cell batter,y which is a valve regulated acid battery that contains gelled electrolyte. This battery does not require additional water to the cells.

Nanotechnology has been used in making of electric cars, mainly in the modification of the batteries. Batteries are coated the electrode surface with nanoparticles, nanowires, or other nanostructures. Anode is where lithium ions are stored when the battery is charged, thus, when increasing the number of ions stored one increases the stored electric power. When the lithium bonds to the atoms, they change. This changes the electrochemical reaction, which could bring much more energy, increasing the capacity produced by the electric battery.

 Advantages of having an electric vehicle reduce cost of living. This is because one does not necessarily need to use petroleum for transport. Secondly, there is no pollution by emission of to the environment. Unlike petroleum whose emission polluters the air increasing risks of cancer and lung diseases, electric cars are safer to use than common cars. In case of towns with traffic congestion, this car can be helpful to the owner due to its small size. It can easily meander through the traffic congestion, hence saving time. Some of the companies that make the electric cars include the Nissan, Sedan and Ford Focus Electric (Passino 72).

When building an electric car, the builder may have a list of materials to use. Some of these materials include aluminum, coal, copper, lead, lithium, nickel, natural gas, uranium and zinc. These materials can be combined to make an electric car. Aluminum is used to make light vehicles. This increases battery driving range. Increased demand for electric power plant output plug for electric vehicles and make coal to be a good choice. This is because coal is a vital energy source for electricity generation. Copper is used due to its high content of electric motors used in powering of the wheels of electric cars. Lead could be used to make lead-based batteries in electric vehicles (Lee 39). Lithium can be used to increase the percentage of electric car battery system. Nickel can also be used to increase the percentage in electric car battery system, but cheaper alternatives may be preferred. Uranium is a significant source of energy for electricity generation in some countries. It would be used to create electric power plant output plug in for electric vehicles. Zinc can be used to make zinc based batteries to use in the electric cars.