1. Introduction
Development in the field of material technology is identified by the utilization of an innovation that contributes towards the welfare of individuals and the environment. Till today, the technology improvement in making materials is still moving from an innovation that is focusing on the welfare of individual interest only. The discovery of knowledge in material science today is more focused on the discovery of complex materials and systems. This situation will bring a negative effect towards the environment since the complex system is easily prone to failure, difficult to recycle, consumes great energy, and must be changed with the new one unlike before this happens. Because of that, a lot of issues that happen today involve pollution, natural resources depletion, and increasing environmental destruction. This problem can be minimized if people, especially material scientists, in the world think of a way to create more sustainable materials. Sustainable material is defined as material that has a less negative impact on the environment and human health, and also the material is more long-lasting and contributes to a better life cycle for the product. Material that is categorized as sustainable will hold the strength, availability, and ability to change back to the previous state if recycling is intended. Meanwhile, the pollution that can be produced shall be minimized. Steps to create a sustainable material will also give a lot of benefits to material scientists since this action is an attempt to redesign the system to the material that they want and opening a lot of opportunities to create a new innovation in a simpler method. High interest towards change in the system of the current conventional material to the sustainable material is the right thing since the current conventional materials have contributed a lot of negative impacts to human health, the environment, and social change that can cause a problem for future generations.
1.1. Definition of sustainable material
Realizing the need for sustainability was the first step and now the challenge is to bring about a transition from present day materials to sustainable materials with minimum impact on the environment and maximum use of resources. This will involve not just development of new materials but a complete change in design methodology and usage and disposal strategies. This would mean that material scientists of today not only should know about material properties and behavior but its effects on global and local environment and how these will compare with materials being developed today. This is a tall order for a designer and it would be impossible to bring about these changes without global and local environmental regulations. This will also open up opportunities for new directions in research and development and newer materials that will bridge the gap. An example of the same is use of polymer matrix composites in place of metals which were aimed at higher performance but ended up using a large amount of resources and having a very high pollution index.
Materials contribute to more than 70% of an engineer’s final design and therefore the sustainability of material plays an important role in sustainable design of products. Sustainable material creation is one that has least impact on the environment and is aimed at the minimum use of resources. This is a sharp contrast to the present day design methodology which aims at maximizing profit and performance even if it means that a large amount of resources are to be used. The changes necessary for transition from the latter to the former are drastic and the first step towards these is realizing a need for sustainable material and a conscious effort by the designers and material scientists to bring about these changes.
Sustainable development is the need of the hour. It is characterized by striking a balance between usage of resources and their renewal. Though the concept sounds simple enough, sustainable development has a lot of scope in terms of actual implementation. Material science and engineering is one such field where implementation of concepts of sustainable development can lead to contributing to a major portion of sustainability. Sustainable material can be defined as material that is manufactured, used and disposed of in a manner that is least harmful to the environment and also does not compromise the ability of future generations to meet their needs. The term has undergone several changes with the advent of globalization and has tried to include manufacture, usage and disposal of a material and a systemic approach to minimize unwanted effects.
1.2. Importance of sustainable material creation
Materials have a critical role in our society and are every bit as important as our energy systems when it comes to environmental sustainability. Without the right materials, a sustainable future is impossible. This is because materials are the building blocks of society and the key to unlocking a sustainable society lies in the discovery, development, and deployment of advanced sustainable materials. There are many existing materials in use today that are inherently unsustainable. There are several reasons for this, one example is the vast amount of plastic materials that are derived from fossil resources. With the depletion of these resources and the issue of sustainability associated with their production, there is a real and urgent need to find alternative materials to perform the same function. Another reason is that many materials are energy-intensive to produce and it is not feasible to replace them with greener alternatives given the amount of energy the advanced materials require for their production. An example is metal alloys that have been developed for specific applications in industry or products. The key to solving these problems is the development of new materials and/or processing routes that will enable these existing materials to be replaced with greener and more sustainable alternatives. This aspect of materials R&D is often referred to as sustainable materials development and is the backbone of what will enable a sustainable society.
1.3. Challenges in sustainable material creation
Despite the numerous successful projects, there still lacks the R&D expertise and industrial capability in designing new materials to meet the rigorous environmental, economic, and social requirements of sustainable development. The reasons for this are several. First, it can be extremely difficult to specify the precise requirement of a sustainable material for a particular application. Steels, for example, are readily recycled, but the recycling rate is low because it is difficult to separate steel scrap from composite scraps containing steel. Polylactic acid can be made from biomass to give a biodegradable plastic, but the environmental benefits outweigh conventional plastics are highly debatable. It is sometimes even possible that the development of a new material may have unforeseen detrimental consequences. CFCs were developed to be a safer alternative to ammonia-based refrigerants but have a disastrous effect on the ozone layer. All this highlights a need for a systematic approach in sustainable materials design. The second reason is the cost of bringing a new material to the market, which can be prohibitively high. This cost must include the necessary long-term studies on environmental impact. With strong global competition, industries are often reluctant to absorb these costs for something with an uncertain future. The third and final reason is the consumer and legislation-driven transition to sustainability, of current materials and the development of materials that give. The market for sustainable material replacement is still immature but will accelerate rapidly in the next few decades.