Materialism: A Materials Science Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 52: μ: Storing Nuclear Waste Feb 03, 2022

Show notes

How do you contain waste that remains hazardous for more than 100,000 years? For decades, the question of what to do with high-level nuclear waste has been put on the back-burner. However, as next generation reactors come online and old ones are retired, the problems of disposal become inevitable. In this episode we investigate the materials challenges of immobilizing and protecting radioactive waste for several millennia.

Articles Discussed:

King, Container materials for the storage and disposal of nuclear waste [LINK]
Kurniawan, Technological solutions for long-term storage of partially used nuclear waste [LINK]
Gin, Long-term Behavior of High-Level Nuclear Waste Glass. Materials Today [LINK]
Robots for Nuclear Waste Cleanup [LINK]

This episode is sponsored by Matmatch. Check out how they can help you find the perfect material for your next engineering project! This episode 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), Ramsey Issa (editing assistance).

Keywords: nuclear energy, nuclear waste, corrosion

Support Materialism: A Materials Science Podcast by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/materialism

Episode 51: Reverse Engineering Nature's Peel Jan 14, 2022

Show notes

We all have experienced the pain of buying produce only for it to spoil before we can finish eating all of it. Apeel Sciences seeks to remedy this by creating a coating to help increase the longevity of fruit. We sit down with Lou Perez to discuss some of the science behind the company.

This episode is sponsored Matmatch. Check out how they can help you find the perfect material for your next engineering project! This episode 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 and Twitter.

Materialism Team: Taylor Sparks (co-host, co-creator), Andrew Falkowski (co-host, co-creator), Jared Duffy (production, marketing, and editing), Ramsey Issa (editing assistance). Keywords: Apeel, food storage, food safety

Support Materialism: A Materials Science Podcast by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/materialism

Episode 50: Materialism Retrospective Dec 20, 2021

Show notes

A slightly different take on the podcast. Join the gang as we celebrate 50 episodes and dive back through the history of how it all started. Learn the backstories of how we all got involved and where we see it heading. Plus join us for some fun stories of the mistakes we have made along the way.

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 and Twitter.

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

Support Materialism: A Materials Science Podcast by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/materialism

Episode 49: μ: Securing Metals Supply Nov 10, 2021

Show notes

A recent report in the Wall Street Journal pointed out that building one wind turbine requires 900 tons of steel, 2,500 tons of concrete and 45 tons of plastic and a single electric vehicle will require the digging up, moving, and processing of over 500,000 pounds of raw materials! As we transition to electric vehicles and renewable energy and storage we will need to drastically increase the production and availability of metals including lithium, rare-earth elements, nickel, tin, tungsten and more. Where will we find these metals? In this episode we discuss this with Brian Menell, CEO of TechMet Ltd.

Articles Discussed:

2019, Mills, If You Want ‘Renewable Energy,’ Get Ready to Dig, Wall Street Journal LINK
2021, Mining investor TechMet closes second funding round at $120 million, Reuters LINK
2021, RCE Q&A With TechMet CEO, Brian Menell, on the Metal Supply Chain, Real Clear Energy LINK

This episode is sponsored TechMet a private company focused in the production, processing, and recycling of Co, Li, Ni, REE, Sn, W, and V. The episode is also sponsored by Matmatch. Check out how they can help you find the perfect material for your next engineering project! This episode 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 and Twitter.

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

Keywords: metals mining extractive metallurgy batteries electric vehicles geopolitical

Support Materialism: A Materials Science Podcast by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/materialism

Episode 48: Thermal Barrier Coatings Oct 25, 2021

Show notes

Did you know turbine blades operate in environments above their melting temperature? The secret is a barrier, no thicker than your fingernail, that insulates, protects, and prevents the nickel superalloy blade from melting. In this episode we discuss the materials science that makes low thermal conductivity, high compliance thermal barrier coatings possible. Towards the end we peer into what the future might hold as we push operating temperatures higher.

Articles Discussed:

2019, Smil, Gas Turbines Have Become by Far the Best Choice for Add-on Generating Power They offer instant-on power that's compact, mobile, quiet, economical, durable, and matchlessly efficient, IEEE Spectrum [LINK]
2010, Gas Turbines breaking the 60% efficiency barrier, Power Engineering International [LINK]
2005, Clarke & Phillpot, Thermal barrier coating materials, Materials Today [LINK]
2003, Clarke & Levi, Materials Design for the Next Generation Thermal Barrier Coatings, Annual Reviews of Materials Research [LINK] This article will be made available for free for 6 months thanks to the support of Materials Today!

Support Materialism: A Materials Science Podcast by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/materialism

Episode 47: μ: Better Polystyrene Recycling Oct 08, 2021

Show notes

Taylor and Andrew sit down with Cassie Bradley of INEOS Styrolution to talk about improving polystyrene and reducing its ecological footprint.

Articles Discussed:

Video overview of the depolymerization of polystyrene Link
2019 Goldsberry, Ineos Styrolution announces breakthrough in chemical recycling of polystyrene Link

This episode is sponsored by INEOS Styrolution. Check them out at https://www.ineos-styrolution.com/index.html and https://styrolution-eco.com/

This episode is also sponsored by Matmatch. Check out how they can help you find the perfect material for your next engineering project! This episode 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, editing assistance, co-creator), Jared Duffy (production, marketing, and editing), Ramsey Issa (editing assistance).

Keywords: Styrofoam, recycling, ecological

Support Materialism: A Materials Science Podcast by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/materialism

Episode 46: Better Nuclear Fuel Sep 13, 2021

Show notes

Are materials the solution to better, safer nuclear fuels? The tri-structural isotropic (TRISO) fuel particle is the product of a variety of materials innovations and is the most promising fuel form to date. Find out all about it in this episode where we cover the challenges and intricacies of designing materials for nuclear reactors!

Articles Discussed:

2015 CRUD: Another Acronym Bites the Dust Link
2010 Materials challenges for nuclear systems Link
2019 Historical perspectives and current progress Link
2015 Coated Particle Fuels for High-Temperature Reactors Link
2021 Current State and Prospect on the Development of Advanced Nuclear Fuel Link

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

Keywords: Nuclear Fuel TRISO Fusion Fission Reactor

Support Materialism: A Materials Science Podcast by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/materialism

Episode 45: μ: Was the Challenger an engineering failure? Aug 25, 2021

Show notes

The Space Shuttle Challengers Explosion rocked America to its core. Was this issue actually caused by engineering or was it a management mistake. Delve into the story of the Rogers Commission and their findings on Morton Thiokols Solid Rocket Boosters and O-Ring.

Articles Discussed:

2006 Challenger: Reporting a Disaster's Cold, Hard Fact LINK
2019 Challenger: The shuttle disaster that changed NASALINK
2016 A famous physicist’s simple experiment showed the inevitability of the Challenger disasterLINK
2016 THE CHALLENGER DISASTER: A CASE OF SUBJECTIVE ENGINEERING LINK
2008 NASA Remembers Three Space Tragedies LINK
1986 INVESTIGATION OF THE CHALLENGER ACCIDENT LINK

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 (editing assistance, co-creator), Andrew Falkowski (editing assistance, co-creator), Jared Duffy (co-host, production, marketing, and editing), Ramsey Issa (co-host).

Keywords: NASA O-ring Challenger Space Shuttle Discovery Disaster

Support Materialism: A Materials Science Podcast by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/materialism

Episode 44: Digital Image Correlation Aug 12, 2021

Show notes

Imagine mounting a pair of cameras to watch your sample as it's deformed and recovering microscale information about the strain! That is exactly what digital image correlation has to offer. In this episode we describe the technique and chat with the inventor, Dr. Sutton from Correlated Solutions Inc. Learn all about the history from DaVinci to present!

Articles Discussed:

Textbook written by Dr. Sutton on the technique [LINK]
2010 McCormick and Lord, Digital Image Correlation. Open Access provided by Materials Today for 6 months after episode airs [LINK]

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), Ramsey Issa (editing assistance).

Keywords: deformation DIC digital image correlation strain correlated solutions

Support Materialism: A Materials Science Podcast by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/materialism

Episode 43: Geopolymers Jul 15, 2021

Show notes

Geopolymers are a unique class of materials that may offer a solution to environmental issues in the industrial sector including cement substitutes that produce only one-ninth of the CO2 as Portland cement. In this episode we talk about how they work and what, if anything, they have to do with the ancient pyramids.

Articles Discussed:

2007 Khale and Chaudhary, Mechanism of geopolymerization and factors influencing its development: a review [LINK]
2013 Olawale, Syntheses, Characterization and Binding Strength of Geopolymers: A Review [LINK]
2010 Petermann and Saeed, Alkali-activated geopolymers: a literature review [LINK]
2017 Davidovits, Geopolymers based on natural and synthetic metakaolin a critical review [LINK]

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), Ramsey Issa (editing assistance).

Keywords: geopolymer rocks pyramids ceramics materials science

Support Materialism: A Materials Science Podcast by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/materialism