Scientists have found a unique material that retains its volume when heated to 1000 ° C

A research team from New South Wales said they had discovered a unique material consisting of scandium, aluminum, tungsten and oxygen with zero thermal expansion, which, as it turned out, retains its original volume in the temperature range from -269 to 1000 degrees Celsius (from 4 to 1400 Kelvin). It is about this unique material that I want to tell you now.

The discovery of a new alloy and its unusual properties

Unique orthorhombic alloy Sc1.5 AI0.5 W3 O12, like many earlier discoveries, it was discovered by scientists quite by accident. So after using a special apparatus - a high-resolution powder diffractometer Echinda engineers and discovered the material's unimaginable thermal stability.

As you know, at the molecular level, when heated, materials expand, that is, the process of elongation of atomic bonds between the elements of the heated object occurs.

In some cases, heating also provokes the rotation of atoms, which leads to the formation of significantly more spacious structures, which inevitably increase the total volume of the body.

But as it turned out, this material is an exception to this rule. Measurements showed that in the temperature range from –269 to 1000 degrees Celsius, the material contained only minor changes were recorded in bonds, as well as in the position of oxygen atoms and rotations arrangement of atoms.

Scientists cannot yet explain the mechanism of this phenomenon and why the material shows such high stability in such a wide range. There is only speculation that this increased stability is associated with consistent changes in bond lengths, angles and positions of oxygen atoms. And in such an unusual way it turns out to keep the same volume of the material.

Where new material might come in handy

Scientists have already suggested that the properties of the new material may well be in demand in the aerospace industry when creating components of spacecraft, which are exposed to strong heating during the launch of the spacecraft and strong cooling in the open outer space.

Also, the new material can be in demand in medicine, namely in the design of medical implants, where even a slight thermal expansion of the material can provoke extremely unfavorable consequences.

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