The Henry Royce Institute has launched a new public-facing video ‘A Material World’ that explores the profound role of material science in society, the challenges we face in creating a sustainable future, and how Royce is driving transformative solutions to meet these challenges head-on.
Materials science lies at the heart of human progress, shaping the tools, technologies, and innovations that define our world. From our earliest tools to the advanced materials driving a cleaner industry, our ability to extract, engineer and innovate with materials has powered civilisation’s greatest achievements.
Materials of the Present
Over the past century, groundbreaking advancements in materials science have led to exciting innovations across a wide array of products and sectors. In the video, Royce explores some of these materials and their impact; for example, synthetic polymers, or plastics, have become integral to modern life with their lightweight, durable, and versatile properties. As such, plastics are indispensable in almost every aspect of our daily lives.
However, traditional plastic production, dependent on fossil fuel-based petrochemicals, combined with limited recycling capabilities and slow biodegradability, poses significant environmental challenges.
The issue lies not with plastics themselves but in the need to revolutionise their production and recycling processes to adopt sustainable practices. At Royce, materials scientists are working to develop transformative, environmentally conscious solutions for the creation, recycling, and disposal of plastics.
Making Materials Better
The video also shares how Royce is exploring materials at almost every length scale. For instance, Royce researchers can study materials at scales as small as individual atoms, enabling the development of innovative materials that challenge previous limitations.
By deepening their understanding of atomic building blocks, researchers are creating materials that harness quantum effects for future computing and metamaterials with extraordinary properties, such as cloaking devices that can render objects partially or wholly invisible.
The search for alternative materials with unique properties is vital for advancing technology, with techniques combining ultra-thin layers of 2D materials yielding tailored solutions for high-speed electronics. Graphene, for instance, is the best-known conductor of electricity, and when rolled into a tube, it becomes the strongest material ever discovered.
Materials Innovation
Many materials breakthroughs fail to reach the market, with new advancements like PTFE for non-stick pans historically taking up to 15 years to achieve commercial use. Issues like mass-manufacture, the need for updated regulations, or lack of sufficient funding often hinder progress.
To speed up such materials translation and commercialisation Royce has recently facilitated a National Materials Innovation Strategy to guide the UK in accelerating the journey from discovery to real-world applications. The Strategy aims to ensure that materials science progress is streamlined towards key challenges like achieving Net Zero.
Royce continues to operate at the heart of materials science itself – delivering solutions and enabling positive change right across society.
‘A Material World’ is freely available to watch below and can be accessed directly through Royce’s YouTube channel.