When you spend money on a nice new phone, one of the first things you do (if you’re smart) is get a case to protect it. Yale professor Jan Schroers, a specialist in materials science and mechanical engineering, is seeing to it that the next generation of smartphone cases is super tough and durable. Schroers works with Bulk Metallic Glasses, or BMGs. These ultra-strong but lightweight alloys are created by cooling molten metal incredibly quickly so that the typical crystalline structure of solid metal can’t form. BMGs, also known as amorphous metals, have an atomic structure that is closer to that of glass, but they are far sturdier.

BMGs have been around since at least 1960, but until now researchers have had trouble figuring out just how to shape them for consumer use. Professor Schroers has developed a technique for forming them that involves shaping the alloys while they are in their supercooled liquid state. He uses this method, called thermoplastic forming, to create sheets of BMGs. Once the alloys are in sheet form, they can be shaped by a blow-molding process similar to that used to mold plastics.

Schroers has his eye on the consumer electronics market for the technology, to which Yale owns the rights. He has licensed those rights to create a line of ultra-durable, lightweight phone cases. They will be scratch-resistant and roughly 50 times harder than plastic. One of the main benefits of using BMGs is that buttons can be built right into the cases, opening up the possibility to make the next generation of smartphone cases waterproof as well as almost indestructible.

The post Yale’s Supercool Metals Make for Super-Tough Phone Cases first appeared on Gajitz.

Ever since the early days of alchemy, humans have been trying to manipulate the very nature of materials. We haven’t quite succeeded in turning lead into gold, but we have created some pretty interesting alloys. This one might be one of the most revolutionary of all time. A team of materials scientists at the Technical University of Hamburg and the Helmholtz Center Geesthacht have made an amazing new nanomaterial that is able to switch from hard and brittle to soft and malleable with nothing more than the flick of a switch.

The secret is actually quite simple: corrosion. When precious metals like platinum or gold are placed in an acidic solution, tiny pits and ducts are formed in the metal. The pores are filled with a conductive liquid such as saline solution, creating what the scientists call “a marriage of metal and water.” Ions are dissolved in the liquid which influence the metallic surface atoms. The catalyst to switch the material between hard and soft is electricity: varying charges can make the material super-strong (but more prone to breakage) or super-soft (but weaker). By changing its state along with the situation, the material could avoid serious damage or even heal itself. The ultimate goal is to create “intelligent” materials that can withstand all kinds of stresses – we just hope they don’t get too intelligent.

The post Switching it Up: Metals Change Material Properies at Will first appeared on Gajitz.