Ten Amazing Materials Properties

Mercury

  
Processing: Cinnabar ore is crushed and heated to release mercury as a vapor. The mercury vapor is then cooled, condensed, and collected.

Properties: Melting temperature = -39 C
                   Boiling temperature = 356.6 C

Applications: Due to it's high density and high rate of thermal expansion, mercury is used for barometers, manometers, thermometers



Glass


Processing: Glass is made by melting together several minerals at very high temperatures. Silica in the form of sand is the main ingredient and this is combined with soda ash and limestone and melted in a furnace at temperatures of 1700°C. 

Properties: Density = 2500 kg/m^3

Applications: The three most common commercial types of glass are soda-lime silica glasses, borosilicate glasses, and phosphate glasses. These types of glasses are used to create windows and food/beverage containers; industrial and kitchen equipment; and optics fibers and heat absorbers.

References:


Titanium Quartz


Processing: Quartz is made of silicon and oxygen. Titanium or 'Rainbow' quartz have been treated with a combination of titanium and gold. Titanium molecules are bonded to the quartz by the natural electrostatic charge of the crystal in a process known as magnetron ionization. The brilliant color of flame aura is the result of optical interference effects produced by layers of titanium.

Properties: Density 2.328 g/cm3

Applications: Glass making, abrasive, foundry sand, hydraulic fracturing proppant, gemstones



Copper


Processing: Pure copper is rarely found in nature, but is usually combined with other chemicals in the form of copper ores. There are about 15 copper ores mined commercially in 40 countries around the world. The most common are known as sulfide ores in which the copper is chemically bonded with sulfur.

Properties: Melting temperature = 1084.62 C
                   Density = 8.96 g/cm3

Applications: The major applications of copper are electrical wire, roofing and plumbing , and industrial machinery. Copper is used mostly as a pure metal, but when greater hardness is required, it is put into such alloys as brass and bronze 



Graphene


Processing: Graphene production begins with a sheet of copper foil, held within a furnace filled with argon gas, designed to drive out oxygen in the air. Carbon atoms are then deposited onto the matrix, and a plastic coating is added to cover the sheet, which is then spun 3,000 times a minute. The multi-layered sheet is later broken apart from a combination of chemicals, driving off the copper and most foreign material. The raw graphene is then loaded onto a silicon chip.

Properties: Graphene is a crystalline allotrope of carbon with 2-dimensional properties. Its carbon atoms are densely packed in a regular atomic-scale chicken wire (hexagonal) pattern.

Applications: Graphene is a transparent and flexible conductor that holds great promise for various material/device applications, including solar cells, LED, touch panels and smart windows or phones.

References: http://www.techtimes.com/articles/166319/20160621/how-graphene-is-made-and-how-it-wasdiscovered.htm#sthash.K8zD0NKk.dpuf


Polyester


Processing: Polyester is a synthetic fiber derived from coal, air, water, and petroleum. Developed in a 20th-century laboratory, polyester fibers are formed from a chemical reaction between an acid and alcohol. In this reaction, two or more molecules combine to make a large molecule whose structure repeats throughout its length. Polyester fibers can form very long molecules that are very stable and strong.

Properties: Polyester fabrics and fibers are extremely strong, resistant to most chemicals, stretching and shrinking, wrinkle resistant, mildew and abrasion resistant. 

Applications: Polyester is used in the manufacture of many products, including clothing, home furnishings, industrial fabrics, computer and recording tapes, and electrical insulation.



Silicon


Processing: The basic process heats silica and coke in a submerged electric arc furnace to high temperatures of 2350 C. High temperatures are required to produce a reaction where the oxygen is removed, leaving behind silicon. In this process, metal carbides usually form first at the lower temperatures. As silicon is formed, it displaces the carbon. Refining processes are used to improve purity.

Properties: Density = 2.3290 g/cm3
Silicon makes up 27.7% of the Earth's crust and is the second most abundant element in the crust.

Applications: Due to it's high density and high rate of thermal expansion, mercury is used for barometers, manometers, thermometers

Natural Rubber

Processing: Natural rubber is made from a runny, milky white liquid called latex that oozes from certain plants.The latex from many trees is then filtered, washed, and reacted with sulfur to make the particles of rubber coagulate.

Properties: Raw natural rubber is normally soft and sticky. It has low tensile strength, low elasticity (range of temperature from 10 to 60 degrees centigrade), and low abrasion resistance.

Applications: Natural rubber latex products are wide and varied like gloves, rubber bands, balloons, tubes, and condoms.

References:http://www.explainthatstuff.com/rubber.html
https://en.wikipedia.ohttp://www.naturalrubbersheet.net/photo/RubberBandBall_flat.pngrg/wiki/
Gold 

Synthetic Rubber


Processing: Synthetic rubbers are complex chemical compounds built by means of polymerization of monomers. Synthetic rubber production starts with the refining process of oil, coal or other hydrocarbons with naphtha as one of the resulting products. The naphtha is then combined with natural gas to produce monomers. As feed material, typically monomers such as butadiene, styrene, isoprene, chloroprene, acrylonitrile, ethylene or propylene are used. These are then treated by polymerization using catalyst and process steam to form chains of polymers which finally results in rubber substances.

Properties: Synthetic rubber is comparatively hard and non-sticky. The material has high tensile strength, strong  elasticity, wide range of temperature use (-40 to 100 degrees centigrade), and high abrasion resistance.

Applications: Synthetic rubber, like natural rubber, has uses in the automotive industry for tires, doors and window profiles, hoses, belts, matting, and flooring.



Steel


Processing: To create steel, iron ore is first mined from the ground and smelted in a blast furnace. When iron is smelted from its ore, it contains more carbon than is desirable. To become steel, it must be reprocessed to reduce the carbon to the correct amount, at which point other elements can be added.

Properties: Density =  7,750 to 8,050 kg/m3

Applications: Steel applications can be divided into applications in construction, transportation, energy, packaging, appliances, and industry. Steel can be found in buildings, reinforced concrete, security fencing, trucks, trains, ships, pipelines, wind turbines, washing machines, and tools.


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