MAKING STUFF: Stronger, Smaller Cleaner, Smarter is a four-part PBS television series focusing on materials science:

While reports on “smart materials” or “bionic humans” are familiar enough from TV news and magazine shows, Making Stuff will be the first documentary to provide the basic science behind these and many other technology breakthroughs. Each of the four one-hour public television programs – Stronger, Smaller, Cleaner, and Smarter – will embrace developments in traditional and emerging materials as well as current research in rapidly expanding fields such as nanotechnology and biomaterials. This series will also explore the human stories that helped shape important breakthroughs in the past – the visionary talent, sheer luck, and dogged determination that turned a wild idea into a useful material.
>>Materials Research Society

For more details check out the Materials Research Society and PBS/NOVA websites.

Tito Ingenieri, from Quilmes - Argentina, built his house out of six million empty bottles over a period of 19 years. His main motivation was the accessibility of scrap materials: “I didn’t have any other way to make my house and this was easy enough to do… Scrap iron and the remnants of other materials are no use for many people, but for me, they are very useful.” Quilmes inhabitants were happy to help out and Ingenieri points out: “Actually, this house doesn’t belong to me, but to many people in this town. It belongs to the people of Quilmes, who have thrown away their many bottles.” He will gladly teach anyone how to build this kind of ecological house that recycles materials and keeps the streets clean.

Notice how beautiful the walls look, with exterior light seeping into the house through the many colored bottles.

This video comes via the eco-ideas website, a portal supported by Japanese Panasonic with the goal of promoting greener lifestyles. Below is another great example, coming from Thailand, showing a DIY solar cooker made of 1000 mirrors that roasts a chicken in 14 minutes.

The Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at the University of Wisconsin has available on its site a highly experimental, but apparently feasible, tutorial for producing DIY OLEDs using conductive glass and a polyvinyl alcohol solution. It presents two alternatives for the application method: a 2500rpm fan or an aluminum foil + duct tape mask. Erik De Bruijn suggests using a laser cutter to create a much more detailed and accurate mask.

The first one to try it please report back :)

(via Erik De Bruijn - thanks Erik!)

The OpenStructures project is an open and modular construction system where everyone designs for everyone on the basis of one shared geometrical grid:

It is an ongoing experiment that wants to find out what happens if people design objects according to a shared modular grid, a common open standard that stimulates the exchange of parts, components, experiences and ideas and aspires to build things together.

When we look at modular construction systems we can clearly distinguish two different models:
- Closed modular systems, where one entity designs a complete system for everybody, and which operate according to a hierarchical (vertical) model.
- Open modular systems, where everybody contributes a small piece to a common system, and which operate according to a (horizontal) network model.

Within current hardware constructions we observe the existence of various closed systems:
- Designer A designs modular system 1
- Company B designs modular system 2
Although all these systems enjoy the benefits of modularity within their system, they most of the time are completely incompatible with one another.

Within software constructions however we are witnessing the emergence of open modular systems.
- Wikipedia, open knowledge sharing
- Linux, open programming

The OS project tries to find out what happens if we would initiate an open modular system for hardware where different entities design different parts and components but all according to one shared modular grid.

Conceived by designer Thomas Lommée, the project was first shown at Z33. The exhibition was comprised of several OS project scales, starting with “open parts” - which are the smallest OS - elements comparable to cells. These “open parts” are then assembled into functional self-sustaining entities: the components or organs of the OpenStructure-system. Following, different components are composed with frames and joints to form structures. Structures then have the capacity to develop and can eventually grow into an assembly of different structures that together function as a superstructure.

The exhibition in Z33 follows the story-line of the different scales and furthermore highlights a collaborative installation as a first “BetaTest” of the system. Just like software, that is reviewed before its launch, the model is tested by setting up a fully-functional kitchen. It demonstrates the streamlined process between different functional entities on the one side and is a vivid patchwork of various personalities, materials, inspirations and motivations on the other.

In preparation for the exhibition, Thomas Lommée collaborated with the KHLimburg and the Hogeschool Sint Lukas in Brussels. During several workshops, students were told about the topic and the first tests took place. This process is going to continue next year through collaborations with Sint Lukas Brussels and the Design Academy Eindhoven.

Thomas Lommée has invited the following designers, craftsmen and enthusiastic autodidacts to collaborate on this project and design within the grid: Laurens Bekemans, Biogas-E vzw, Nicolas Coeckelberghs, Kar Yan Cheung, Brussels Cooperation, Alistaire Dewit, Lise Foré, Christiane Hoegner, Bob Jacobs, Fabio Lorefice, Lucas Maassen, Jeroen Maes, Samyrah Moumouth, Karl Philips, Thermopolnv, Unfold, Jo Van Bostraeten.

OpenStructures is a collaborative effort (open to everyone), originally conceived at the Institute without Boundaries and now being further developed and tested by Intrastructures in association with the research group 4Dimensional Design of the Department of Architectonic Engineering Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.

Learn more about and participate in the project @ the OpenStructures site:
:: purpose, goals, and potential
:: grid
:: parts
:: components
:: structures
:: designer platform
:: blog
:: participate

The Z33 art center also has an upcoming show titled Design by Performance which will feature, among many other interesting works, Unfold’s Claystruder (paired with a virtual trowing wheel that scans 3d hand movements and generates virtual objects to be printed at a later time) and David Bowen’s Growth Modelling Device. If you’re in the neighborhood (Hasselt, Belgium) or can make it there, don’t miss this exhibition!

UPDATE :: The Open Structures project is currently part of the ‘Up to You’ exhibition @ Stroom (The Hague, Netherlands).

Open3DP’s Recipes are a really nice resource for those interested in experimenting with different materials for 3D printing. There’s a little bit of everything in there, from glass to porcelain to sugar.

Open3dp is a website hosted by the Solheim Rapid Prototyping Laboratory in the Mechanical Engineering Department on the University of Washington campus. Its purpose is to disseminate information and foster a community of people interested in an open sharing of 3D printing information.

Below is “Printing Ceramics,” a video featuring the work of the Solheim Rapid Prototyping/ Rapid Manufacturing Lab, specifically the work of Professor Mark Ganter, as well as the experimental art of Doctoral Student Meghan Trainor.

Unfold has started printing with ceramics on a modified rapman. First results look amazing:

We took some time to play around and get used to the dynamics of the clay print process. It was also time to step up (or down?) the resolution from 1.9 to 0.8 mm using screw-on luer lock tips. We are also now using powder clay that can be mixed in exact quantities instead of moisturizing chunks of clay. Also figuring out ways of reliably filling the syringes without trapped air. I’m using a similar 60cc syringe where the front is cut off and use this to suck in the clay from the mixing bowl. Then the clay is transferred to the print syringe, this works really well actually.

After some calibrating I decided to print a test design that would be hard to make using conventional techniques: a double walled vessel with fins connecting in- and outside. I was expecting mostly failure but it finished without to much trouble! Due to the restrictions of Skeinforge expecting 3d models, the walls are double filament (1.5mm total). As you can see on the Pleasant3d view there is an outer and inner shell and instead of a line connecting both there are o-loops. Testing a different design now that enables us to test a single filament double wall vessel. But in the end We will need a way to generate tool paths from single walled surfaces instead of solids.

Last weekend I talked briefly with Adrian Bowyer after his excellent talk at FOSDEM. I was excited to show him our results after he finished his talk with mentioning ceramics as future possibilities (hence the title, wink, wink)

Now lets pray all together that trapped air bubbles won’t make it pop…

Read about the process @ the Unfold Fab blog:
:: Claystruder parts
:: Claystruder first test
:: Design for the extruder
:: Claystruder mounted, ready to test
:: Hello slurry world!
:: Images

Here’s a very interesting article from physorg.com on spray-on liquid glass:

Spray-on liquid glass is transparent, non-toxic, and can protect virtually any surface against almost any damage from hazards such as water, UV radiation, dirt, heat, and bacterial infections. The coating is also flexible and breathable, which makes it suitable for use on an enormous array of products.

The liquid glass spray (technically termed “SiO2 ultra-thin layering”) consists of almost pure silicon dioxide (silica, the normal compound in glass) extracted from quartz sand. Water or ethanol is added, depending on the type of surface to be coated. There are no additives, and the nano-scale glass coating bonds to the surface because of the quantum forces involved. According to the manufacturers, liquid glass has a long-lasting antibacterial effect because microbes landing on the surface cannot divide or replicate easily.

(…)

The liquid glass spray produces a water-resistant coating only around 100 nanometers (15-30 molecules) thick. On this nanoscale 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. UK project manager with Nanopool, Neil McClelland, said soon almost every product you purchase will be coated with liquid glass.

(…)

The liquid glass coating is breathable, which means it can be used on plants and seeds. Trials in vineyards have found spraying vines increases their resistance to fungal diseases, while other tests have shown sprayed seeds germinate and grow faster than untreated seeds, and coated wood is not attacked by termites. Other vineyard applications include coating corks with liquid glass to prevent “corking” and contamination of wine. The spray cannot be seen by the naked eye, which means it could also be used to treat clothing and other materials to make them stain-resistant. McClelland said you can “pour a bottle of wine over an expensive silk shirt and it will come right off”.

(…)

Liquid glass spray is perhaps the most important nanotechnology product to emerge to date. It will be available in DIY stores in Britain soon, with prices starting at around £5 ($8 US). Other outlets, such as many supermarkets, may be unwilling to stock the products because they make enormous profits from cleaning products that need to be replaced regularly, and liquid glass would make virtually all of them obsolete.

>> read the full article on physorg.com

Methylenchlorid, also known as methylene chloride and dichloromethane, is an organic chemical compound and solvent.

It’s commonly used as an adhesive for architectural models because of its ability to bond materials transparently and quickly without sticking to your fingers.

The following plastics are suitable for bonding with methylene chloride - polystyrene, acrylic, polycarbonate, PET-G, and ABS.  Note you can’t use it to with polypropylene or polyethylene.

Here in Vienna I am able to buy polystyrene and methylenchlorid at ARCHIDELIS, which has a range of model building materials for architecture, design and fabrication.

*update 11 dec 2009*
This experiment relates to an exhibition of mine at Museums Quartier in Vienna, details are below-

Niki Passath - QUANTITY
Open: Wed 16.12.09, 19h. Exhibition closes 16.1 2010
Electric Avenue, quartier21 Electric Avenue, quartier21

From the curatorial essay-
“The title “QUANTITY” derives from the simple fact that it is an
installation containing a collection of objects that through their
shape, have the ability to expand and contract. The objects are
designed so that the continuous expansions and contractions are
“clumsy” and strenuous attempts to express movement. Over time and the
limited space of the staging results in forced collision of artifacts
to each other and the surrounding walls. As a result of which the
geometrical forms either change the direction of their movement
patterns or develop a common collective locomotion.

The diversity of interactions and collective forms that fascinate
evolve over time, before the eyes of the observer, completely without
his intervention, becoming socialized.

But what does it mean if it is possible for an artist to inscribe the
social behavior of biological forms “hijack-ing architectural bodies?
For Passath it’s just one more proof of the many possibilities of
techno-organic being.”

Quantum tunnelling composite (QTC) is a smart flexible polymer, with extraordinary electrical properties, used for pressure switching and sensing. In its normal state it’s a near-perfect electrical insulator, but when deformed QTC becomes a metal-like conductor capable of passing very high currents. In fact, a QTC button measuring 4mm square and 1.5mm thick can pass up to 10 amps when squeezed! Also, the change from insulator to conductor is dramatic and can be obtained with only the tiniest pressure.

Oh, and did I mention it’s inexpensive too?

-> Update: I recently realized that QTC pills are magnetic too. Nothing like having some magnets laying around on the table while you work :)

What is it exactly?
Unlike carbon loaded polymers, such as resistive foam, that require a lot more pressure and conduct minute currents through a percolation process (the effect of carbon particles touching within the polymer structure), QTC is made of metal filler particles combined with an elastomeric binder, typically silicone rubber. Instead of percolation this material owes its extraordinary properties to a quantum tunneling phenomenon: electrons tunnel through the material, i.e. conduct, when their physical structure is slightly changed by pressure.

QTC usually comes in the form of pills or sheet, but I’ve also encountered references to cable, ink/coating, and granule. QTC pills are just tiny little pieces of the material. The sheets are composed of one layer of QTC, one layer of a conductive material, and a third layer of a plastic insulator. While QTC sheets switch quickly between high and low resistances, QTC pills are pressure sensitive variable resistors.

What for?
- Touch switches (sheet)
- Force/pressure sensors (pills)
- Motor speed control using force (pills)

The small size of QTC pills and their rubbery nature make them particularly well suited for soft circuits. Some interesting applications include a Double Sided Fabric Keyboard and an FM Radio w/ Textile Controls.

How?
:: Making a pressure/force sensor with a QTC pill
The video below shows how to use a 4×4x1.5mm QTC button (in this case 3 connected buttons, since one was too small to be visible on the video) as a pressure sensor. A QTC button is placed on a piece of copper sheet, though it could be another conductive material, which in turn is connected to 9V. The DC motor is connected to ground and an alligator clip that is used to press the QTC button, closing the circuit.

Apologies for the awful video quality :( I need to get some new equipment.

:: Making a simple switch out of QTC sheet
Simply place your piece of QTC sheet, with the plastic side facing up, across two pieces of conductive material (see illustration above). This is your button. You can hold it in place with some tape, but don’t forget that this is a very sensitive material and too much pressure exerted by the tape will cause the switch to be on at all times. If you need to put anything else on top of it, such as a label, add a piece of foam in between the button and the label. A 3K3 resistor will produce a switch that requires moderate force and will not be triggered by light pressure.

:: Making QTC sheets from pills
The illustration above shows the 3 layers of QTC sheet. Start with a bottom layer of some insulating plastic. Glue a sheet of a conductive material on top. It doesn’t matter which or how much glue you use to attach the polymer to the conductive material, the plastic is used here only as a ‘cushion’ and insulator between the hand pressing the switch and the current. I use conductive adhesive copper track with the adhesive part facing up and superglue on the back. And then place the QTC pill or pills, depending on how large a surface you need, onto the adhesive of the copper track. If you use more than one pill they’ll have to be connected to each other.

Resources
About QTC Technology @ Peratech
QTC Applications @ Peratech

Products & Supplier
I’ve only been able to find this material at MUTR Teaching Resources (UK). They supply:
QTC Pills
QTC Sheet Holders
QTC Testing Kit
QTC CDRom
Science of QTC Booklet

Share your knowledge
If you’d like to contribute content or corrections regarding QTC, please use the comment form below or add them directly to the openMaterials wiki:
materials/pressure sensitive/quantum tunneling composite

>> about the materials 101 series.