Materialism: A Materials Science Podcast Taylor Sparks and Andrew Falkowski

The discovery of new materials is an immense challenge, with a vast design space and numerous success criteria. Microsoft has recently demonstrated an advanced approach to machine learning-assisted material discovery, particularly in the realm of lithium-ion battery electrolytes.

They began by exploring all possible structure types, decorating these structures with various atoms, leading to a pool of millions of candidate materials. The screening process went beyond simple stability checks to encompass a broad range of criteria, including predicted properties, electrode stability, and cost. This was achieved through various layers of filtering, leveraging data from diverse calculations, ranging from costly DFT and MD simulations to lower-fidelity calculations.

Microsoft wisely positioned the expensive calculations towards the end of the pipeline, focusing resources only on the most promising candidates. Furthermore, they partnered with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to synthesize the compounds identified.

In this podcast, we'll delve into this process, the challenges faced, and the future opportunities in this field, in conversation with Chi Chen and Nathan Baker.

If you want more details on teh work microsoft is doing in this space, you can check out their paper where they provide more details on the methodology and experimental results.

This episode of the Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Microsoft Azure Quantum Elements. You can try out their new copilot tools in an online demo on their Copilot Website. And if you want to learn more about how Microsoft is accelerating scientific discovery, you can head over to the Microsoft Azure Quantum Elements Website.

Thanks to Kolobyte and Alphabot for letting us use their music in the show!

If you have questions or feedback please send us emails at materialism.podcast@gmail.com or connect with us on social media: Instagram, Twitter.

Materialism Team: Taylor Sparks (co-host, co-creator), Andrew Falkowski (co-host, co-creator), Jared Duffy (production, marketing, and editing).

Keywords: AI Quantum Microsoft Materials Acceleration Battery Lithium Ion Li

Designing a great material is only half the battle, now you need to sell it. In this episode we sat down with Dan Wilson from Sintx and took a dive into the surprisingly nuanced world of materials sales and the challenges and pitfalls of marketing materials solutions.

Learn more about Sintx and the great materials they are developing by visiting their website at: http://www.sintx.com/

The Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Cal Nano, leading experts in spark plasma sintering and cryomilling technologies. You can learn more about their work and services by visiting their website.

This Materialism Podcast is also sponsored by Materials Today, an Elsevier community dedicated to the creation and sharing of materials science knowledge and experience through their peer-reviewed journals, academic conferences, educational webinars, and more.

Thanks to Kolobyte and Alphabot for letting us use their music in the show!

If you have questions or feedback please send us emails at materialism.podcast@gmail.com or connect with us on social media: Instagram, Twitter.

Materialism Team: Taylor Sparks (co-host, co-creator), Andrew Falkowski (co-host, co-creator), Jared Duffy (production, marketing, and editing).

Keywords: Sales, marketing, salesmanship

The challenge of plastic pollution in our environment will be a defining issue in the coming decades. To address this problem, scientists have developed a host of next generation biodegradable plastics that have the potential to improve the sustainability of single use products. Among these are a class of materials called PHAs which are of particular interest as their microorganism origins are also the means of their decomposition. Join us for a discussion with Nick Sandland as we explore the fascinating world of biodegradable polymers and what the future of plastics will look like.

The Materialism Podcast is sponsored by SciSpace, a new tool that helps streamline the process of reading and exploring materials science literature. You can learn more about their services and tools by visiting their website.

If you like to learn more about PHAs and their potential to transform the plastics industry check out GO!PHA [CLICK HERE]

The Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Cal Nano, leading experts in spark plasma sintering and cryomilling technologies. You can learn more about their work and services by visiting their website.

This Materialism Podcast is also sponsored by Materials Today, an Elsevier community dedicated to the creation and sharing of materials science knowledge and experience through their peer-reviewed journals, academic conferences, educational webinars, and more.

Thanks to Kolobyte and Alphabot for letting us use their music in the show!

If you have questions or feedback please send us emails at materialism.podcast@gmail.com or connect with us on social media: Instagram, Twitter.

Materialism Team: Taylor Sparks (co-host, co-creator), Andrew Falkowski (co-host, co-creator), Jared Duffy (production, marketing, and editing).

Keywords: Green Plastic Bio Degradable Biodegradable Single Use PHA Pollution microplastics

There’s more to a material’s microstructure than meets the eye! In this episode of the Materialism Podcast we dive into the world of Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) characterization, and discuss some of the important properties you can measure with it including grain size, phase distribution, texture, and more! To help us navigate this topic, we sat down with Stuart Wright and Matt Nowell from AMETEK who lend us decades of experience and intimate knowledge of the technique to provide thorough coverage of the past, present, and future of EBSD.

This episode is sponsored by Gatan. A leading manufacturer or products designed to enhance and extend the life of electron microscopes. You can learn more about their products and services by visiting their website.

If you'd like to stay informed about EBSD and EDS news and promotions from EDAX [CLICK HERE]

The Materialism Podcast is sponsored by American Elements, a leading manufacturer and supplier of materials. You can learn more about their work and services by visiting their website.

This Materialism Podcast is also sponsored by Materials Today, an Elsevier community dedicated to the creation and sharing of materials science knowledge and experience through their peer-reviewed journals, academic conferences, educational webinars, and more.

Thanks to Kolobyte and Alphabot for letting us use their music in the show!

If you have questions or feedback please send us emails at materialism.podcast@gmail.com or connect with us on social media: Instagram, Twitter.

Materialism Team: Taylor Sparks (co-host, co-creator), Andrew Falkowski (co-host, co-creator), Jared Duffy (production, marketing, and editing).

Keywords: EBSD Electron Backscattering Diffraction microstructure

Meeting the demands of next-generation technologies will require materials to be designed and qualified at faster rates than ever before. The ICME (integrated computational materials engineering) approach is at the forefront of this innovation, blending advanced computational modeling with experimental validation to accelerate the development of new materials and open up the possibility of concurrent design. In this episode, we sit down with Jason Sebastian from QuesTek to learn how they have successfully applied the ICME method to the design of aerospace alloys and ICMD® software they built to enable other companies to implement the method.

Selected References


Wang et al. Integrated computational materials engineering for advanced materials: A brief review [LINK]
Case Study: QuesTek’s Ferrium C64 & Additive Manufacturing Process Make Army Helicopters Tougher, Lighter, and Safer [LINK]
Case Study: QuesTek’s Single Crystal Nickel Answers the Department Of Energy’s Call [LINK]

This episode of Materialism is sponsored by QuesTek’s ICMD® software, a cutting-edge materials design and engineering platform for ICME in a cloud-based SaaS format. Backed by computational models honed through numerous engagements with industry leaders like NASA, SpaceX, and Apple, ICMD® empowers materials engineers to predict how various factors affect material properties such as strength, toughness, corrosion resistance, and fatigue - enabling rapid design, development, and deployment of innovative materials. Visit questek.com to find out how it help solve your materials challenges.

The Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Cal Nano, leading experts in spark plasma sintering and cryomilling technologies. You can learn more about their work and services by visiting their website.

This Materialism Podcast is also sponsored by Materials Today, an Elsevier community dedicated to the creation and sharing of materials science knowledge and experience through their peer-reviewed journals, academic conferences, educational webinars, and more.

Thanks to Kolobyte and Alphabot for letting us use their music in the show!

If you have questions or feedback please send us emails at materialism.podcast@gmail.com or connect with us on social media: Instagram, Twitter.

Materialism Team: Taylor Sparks (co-host, co-creator), Andrew Falkowski (co-host, co-creator), Jared Duffy (production, marketing, and editing).

Keywords: Materials Innovation AI ICME ICMD integrated computational materials engineering

Examining the inside of a material is often a destructive process that risks obscuring or deforming critical details. However, advances in computed tomography have opened new opportunities to obtain high resolution, three-dimensional reconstructions of materials in a non-destructive manner. Through this technique materials scientists can now identify cracks and voids in materials without the need for mounting and polishing, observe processes like battery degradation and dendrite growth in real time, and even obtain 3D diffraction data for identifying phase distributions in a material. In covering this fascinating topic, we are joined by William Harris from Zeiss Microscopy who shares his expertise as he walks us through the many ways computed tomography is reshaping materials science.

Selected References:


Withers et al. X-ray computed tomography [LINK]
Villarraga-Gómez et al. Assessing rechargeable batteries with 3D X-ray microscopy, computed tomography [LINK]
Finegan et al. Investigating lithium-ion battery materials during overcharge-induced thermal runaway [LINK]
XinChen et al. Interlaminar to intralaminar mode I and II crack bifurcation due to aligned carbon nanotube reinforcement of aerospace-grade advanced composites [LINK]
Plessis et al. Effects of defects on mechanical properties in metal additive manufacturing: A review focusing on X-ray tomography insights [LINK]
Refuting a 70-Year Approach to Predicting Material Microstructure [LINK]
CT Analysis of a Meteorite [LINK]
Johnson et al. Analysis of the interdependent relationship between porosity, deformation, and crack growth during compression loading of LPBF AlSi10Mg [LINK]
Badran et al. Automated segmentation of computed tomography images of fiber-reinforced composites by deep learning [LINK]
Villarraga-Gómez et al. Improving throughput and image quality of high-resolution 3D X-ray microscopes using deep learning reconstruction techniques [LINK]

This episode is sponsored by Zeiss Microscopy. With over 175 years of innovation in microscopy, ZEISS is proud to offer an extensive suite of optical, 3D X-ray, SEM, and FIB-SEM microscopes to help scientists and engineers understand their materials. Every ZEISS microscope comes with the commitment of providing the highest quality instrument, deep application expertise, and a robust global support network. You can learn more about their work and services by visiting their website.

The Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Cal Nano, leading experts in spark plasma sintering and cryomilling technologies. You can learn more about their work and services by visiting their website.

This Materialism Podcast is also sponsored by Materials Today, an Elsevier community dedicated to the creation and sharing of materials science knowledge and experience through their peer-reviewed journals, academic conferences, educational webinars, and more.

Thanks to Kolobyte and Alphabot for letting us use their music in the show!

If you have questions or feedback please send us emails at materialism.podcast@gmail.com or connect with us on social media: Instagram, Twitter.

Materialism Team: Taylor Sparks (co-host, co-creator), Andrew Falkowski (co-host, co-creator), Jared Duffy (production, marketing, and editing).

Keywords: Xray Tomography Computed Zeiss CT Materials Research Microstructure