ARCHITERIALS is a year old now, and like most healthy, well-adjusted one-year-olds it needs to be changed constantly, crawls all over my apartment, and makes strange burbling noises.  No, really – it does.  It’s terrifying.

Over the past year I’ve profiled approximately 65 materials and learned about blogging, bacteria, and biscuits, although I must confess that the biscuts were a side project.  A delicious, buttery side project.  Anyhow, to celebrate the birthday of ARCHITERIALS and the fact that the tagline “Investigating architectural materials since 2010” has finally attained temporal legitimacy, I’ve compiled for this, the 10th day of January,  a list of 10 materials from 2010 that are generally awesome.  I’ve also summarized the awesomeness of each material in a brief paragraph, and I’ve tried to frame each one as part of a larger, sort of big-picture trend in materials science that I’m studying.  Should you click on the links and read the detailed posts about each material for more information? Definitely. 

Finally, thank you so much to those who’ve submitted information, followed, liked, and posted photos over the past year, I appreciate it more than you can imagine!  Keep the materials coming and do tell your friends if your friends seem like people who might be interested in ARCHITERIALS.

Ten Awesome Materials from 2010 and Reasons They are Awesome:

1.  Materials that can be deployed in disasters or used to improve living conditions:  Concrete Cloth

Concrete cloth is a concrete-impregnated fabric that is fire-proof, waterproof, moldable, drapeable, durable and generally fantastic.  Applications include: gabion reinforcement, sandbag defenses, ground surfacing/dust suppression, ditch lining, landing surfaces, formwork, spill containment and landfill lining, waterproofing, building cladding, boat ramps, erosion control, roof repair, water and septic tanks.  Concrete cloth solves problems you don’t even know you have, although nothing can repair your terrible relationship with your mother-in-law.   

2.  Sustainable, non-toxic materials:  Reclaimed Wood and Agricultural Fiber Panels

Kirei Board, Kirei Coco Tiles and Kirei Wheatboard made from the non-food portions (stalks and husks) of sorghum, coconut, and wheat plants.  The agricultural fiber that’s not sold by farmers for use in the manufacture of Kirei board takes up space in landfills or gets burned up and pollutes the air – therefore repurposing it cuts down on that sort of thing.  Sustainable building materials make the planet happy, and a happy planet makes for happy people. 

3.  Biodegradable materials:  Arbofoam

As it turns out, lignin can be transformed into a renewable plastic if it’s combined with resins, flax and other natural fibers. The resulting bio-plastic, called Arboform, can be thermoformed, foamed, or molded via injection machines.  It’s durable and super-precise when it’s cast, and it degrades similar to wood into water, humus, and carbon dioxide. It’s very cool stuff indeed and I’d love it if someone would send me information about a project where it’s been used.  Biodegradable materials cut down on landfill and reduce environmental pollution. 

4.  Thermoplastic/thermoelastic/thermoformed/thermo-etcetera materials:  Chemical Velcro

How could you not get excited about an adhesive 10 times stickier than Velcro and the reusable gecko-inspired glues that many research groups have been trying to perfect that comes apart when heated??!  I have been trying without success to get my hands on some of this to build demountable partition walls for my tiny apartment, and I’m not giving up.  Materials that respond to changes in temperature by changing their behavior or attributes will find widespread application in the future. 

5.  Materials that clean and sanitize themselves:  Liquid Glass

Liquid glass a coating that takes advantages of the unique properties of materials at nanoscale.  It is environmentally harmless and non-toxic, and easy to clean using only water or a simple wipe with a damp cloth. It repels bacteria, water and dirt, and resists heat, UV light and even acids.  According to manufacturers, you can spray liquid glass on everything from wood to seeds to your sneakers.  It could someday replace all the toxic cleaning products you currently use to tidy and disinfect, and it reportedly costs about 8 dollars.  Materials that clean and sanitize themselves cut down on the need for toxic chemicals and pollutants. 

6.  Materials that emit light efficiently:   White LED Lights

White LED lights emit more light than a typical 20-watt fluorescent bulb, as well as more light for a given amount of power. With these improvements, the new LEDs can replace traditional fluorescent bulbs for all general lighting applications, and also be used for automobile headlights and LCD backlighting.  Shedding light on any given subject has never been more efficient.  As we transition to alternative forms of energy we are also looking for materials that emit light without using much energy in the first place.

7.  Nanomaterials:  Gold Nanoparticles

Gold nanoparticles can be used to further increase the efficiency of LED lights.  Researchers have implanted the particles in the leaves of aquatic plants, causing the leaves to emit red light.  Theoretically, the light produced by the leaves could cause their chloroplasts to conduct photosynthesis, meaning that no additional energy source would be needed to power the process.  In fact, the leaves would actually work overtime, absorbing CO₂ at night.  Nanomaterials allow us to intervene in processes like photosynthesis with a previously unheard-of degree of delicacy.

8.  Materials that augment already useful material properties:  Bendywood 

Bendywood is wood that has been pre-compressed so that it can be easily bent by hand.  The tension that forms on the outside of a bend merely returns the plant cells to their former shape, and the wood doesn’t break.  The material is delightfully flexible and pliable.  Bendywood was developed for indoor uses such as furniture, handrails, or curved mouldings, and it shows enormous promise.  Materials like Bendywood amplify the appealing properties of familiar materials so that it’s even easier to use them to our benefit.

9.  Bio-based materials:  Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP)

At the intersection of biology and solar tech, there are jellyfish that produce green fluorescent protein (GFP).  Dripping GFP onto a silicon dioxide substrate between two electrodes causes it to work itself into strands, creating a circuit that absorbs photons and emits electrons in the presence of ultraviolet light.  The electron current (aka electricity) can then be used to power your hairdryer.  I’m completely fascinated by materials that help us to blur the boundaries between biological and man-made machines.

10.  Materials that repair themselves:  Bacilla Filla

Bacilla Filla is a material that patches up the cracks in concrete structures, restoring buildings damaged by seismic events or that have deteriorated over time.  Custom-designed bacteria burrows deep into the cracks in concrete, where they produce a mix of calcium carbonate and a special bacteria glue that hardens to the same strength of the surrounding concrete.  Materials that can detect their own flaws and damage and repair themselves will revolutionize the way we build and think about building materials in the future.

Scientists Juergen Pfitzer and Helmut Naegele, working with Norbert Eisenreich, Wilhelm Eckl and Emilia Inone-Kauffmann found that lignin, a key ingredient in every piece of wood, can be “transformed” into a renewable plastic if it’s combined with resins, flax and other natural fibers. The resulting bio-plastic, called Arboform, can be thermoformed, foamed, or molded via injection machines.  It’s durable and super-precise when it’s cast, and it degrades similar to wood into water, hummus humus, and carbon dioxide (Nicola). 

Image courtesy http://www.tecmente.comuf.com/

130 million pounds of lignin are produced by the paper and pulp industry each year as a waste product of the paper-making process.  Manufacturers need to remove the lignin from cellulose in order to make paper white; they usually just burn it away.  Arboform diverts the lignin from the waste stream so manufacturers don’t need to cut additional trees to produce it.  Lignin could replace millions of barrels of oil that go into making traditional plastics.

Tecnarowas founded in 1998 by the scientists to produce and offer Arboform commercially.  In 2010, the company is “due to produce 275 tons of Arboform and several other biodegradable and renewable polymers it has developed over the past years.  Several products made of Arboform have been revealed, including baby toys, furniture, castings for watches, designer loudspeakers (Arboform has wood-like acoustic qualities), golf tees that degrade on the course and even coffins” (Nicola).  Car manufacturers are using Arboform for dashboards and interior designers are having it cast into small knobs and other intricate pieces that would be difficult to create with wood.

Image courtesy Tecnaro

Regular plastics “cost between70 cents and $3.20 per pound, the price for Arboform starts at $1.70 per pound. If the oil price continues to rise, then Arboform might even be cheaper one day. Its environmental price tag is already hard to beat” (Nicola).  I find the concept of this product exciting: they’re taking lignin out of the waste stream and using it to make useful objects that degrade harmlessly when they’ve outlived their usefulness.  Can’t beat it.

WU XING:

I’m filing Arboform under wood, because it is completely wood-like, and water, because it can be thermoformed and thus has characteristics of a liquid.

Cited:

Nicola, Stefan. “German Company Sells Liquid Wood.” Spacemart.com. 11/20/09.  Accessed 07/28/10.  URL.

According to the product information, “independent lab tests prove that just one layer of Green Glue Noiseproofing Compound between two layers of drywall or other similar building material dissipates up to 90 percent of noise. Unlike competitive soundproofing products, Green Glue Noiseproofing Compound cuts out the low frequency noises commonly produced by home entertainment and theater systems” (Sweets Network).  The compound costs less than .50¢ per square foot and can be used in new and existing construction.

Image Courtesy Sweets Network

Green Glue Noiseproofing Compound can be used in any fire rated assembly according to the International Building Code. It does not contribute to mold growth, is low V.O.C., and has almost no odor. The compound can be easily cleaned up while still wet with soap and water.

Image Courtesy Sweets Network

If you’re inclined to try slathering it betwixt your sheets of drywall, you can purchase Green Glue Noiseproofing Compound by the case (each of which contains 12 tubes) or by the 5 gallon pail. You’ll go through 1 – 3 tubes per 4′ × 8′ sheet of drywall depending on desired performance. The coverage of a pail of Green Glue is around 365 sq. feet.

Check out their website: www.greengluecompany.com

Cited:

WU XING:

Shhhhhh… I’m filing this under water.

Sweets Network. “Green Glue Noiseproofing Compound.” Accessed 07/14/10.  URL.

Image courtesy kspark.kaist.ac.kr

A single layer of a branched polymer containing molecules that form tight hydrogen bonds with each other is grafted on the surface of a shape memory polymer, which becomes plastic (in the softened, moldable sense) when heated to 68 ºC (154.4 ºF).  Heating and softening the pieces of shape memory polymer before pressing them together ensures good molecular contact, causing millions of connections to form between the hydrogen-bonding molecules of the branched polymer layer.  When the polymer pieces cool down again and harden, they’re stuck together.  Because the branched polymer grafts act like “chemical velcro,” it takes a massive amount of force to pry the shape memory polymer pieces apart.  The situation changes, however, when the pieces are reheated; upon the heat-induced return of plasticity, the pieces can be pulled apart without any trouble.  “The researchers were able to attach and pull apart the polymers twice before losing one-third of the adhesive strength, according to a Langmuir paper published online” (Patel).  So that’s fantastic – but is this stuff actually useful?

An atomic force microscope image shows the surface of a shape memory polymer that has been treated to make a strong reusable adhesive. Credit: Tao Xie, GM Research and Development Center

The adhesive is theoretically perfect for applications requiring “a strong but alterable bond” – furniture, toys, and even buildings (Patel).  It’s not difficult to imagine a scenario where an adhesive that can un-adhere would be more convenient to use than high-strength bolts or other mechanical fasteners: stage sets, converting apartments or other rooms for use by people with disabilities, etc.  What could prove problematic however, is the heat required to stick the polymer pieces together.  And while the glue’s strength shows promise for applications in recycling and sustainable manufacturing, it’s not a true reusable adhesive because you can’t use it indefinitely (Patel).  So that’s the story on chemical velcro, and I just have one question:

Does anybody have any acetone?

WU XING:

Polymer-based adhesive fits with the Wood category because it’s literally and figuratively plastic.

Cited:

Patel, Prachi. “Super Velcro.” Technology Review 02/16/2010.  Accessed 04/29/10.  URL.

Now let’s consider glass.  We are most of us by now fairly familiar with the material;  its primary ingredient is silica, it’s brittle, at earthly operating temperatures it tends to be fairly solid, and it loves long walks on the beach, horseback riding, and watching the sunset.  But when you (and by you I mean Turkish inventors and miscellaneous researchers at the Saarbrücken Institute for New Materials) obtain silicon dioxide (SiO2) extracted from quartz sand and add water or ethanol to taste, you can create a spray-on glass coating 100 nanometers thick that bonds to surfaces using quantum forces (Edwards).  Am I the only one picturing a distraught naval captain with a mirror in one hand and spray-bottle full of glass in the other barking, “dammit glass, it seems you’ve changed!”

Image of glass courtesy nanotechnologytoday.blogspot.com

On the plus side, “the glass is highly flexible and breathable.  The coating is environmentally harmless and non-toxic, and easy to clean using only water or a simple wipe with a damp cloth. It repels bacteria, water and dirt, and resists heat, UV light and even acids” (Edwards).  When sprayed on, say – a band-aid, liquid glass produces a surface so smooth that germs slide off like penguins on the edge of a melting glacier.  According to manufacturers, you can spray liquid glass on everything from wood (termite protection – LOVE!) to seeds (yum) to your sneakers.  It will replace all the toxic cleaning products you currently use to tidy and disinfect, and it reportedly costs about 8 US dollars. 

Okay, liquid glass is going to change the world.  So what do we have to worry about?  Is there any reason for a deep panic about this material to set in?  Er – perhaps.  One of the slightly irksome aspects of materials behaving differently at the nano scale is that we don’t know exactly how they are going to affect our bodies.  Nanoparticles can breeze in and out through our cell walls without stopping at customs, and we’re not exactly sure what they get up to while they’re visiting.  Spraying liquid glass on our food and in our houses would produce clouds of nano-spray that we would then inhale and ingest.  Because we haven’t been working with this material for long, we’re not really sure if that would be bad.  It seems like it would be bad, but you never know.  Maybe it would be good.  Tell me what you think.

WU XING:

Clearly this material fits in the Water category.  Liquid glass is a coating that takes on the shape of whatever material it covers.  It likes to live dangerously. 

Cited:

Edwards, Lin. “Spray-on Liquid Glass is about to Revolutionize almost Everything.”  Physorg.com. 02/02/10.  Accessed 02/02/10.  URL.