Rajan Jose
Rajan Jose, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Malaysia
Title: Materials 4.0 and Circular Economy for Zero-Waste Materials Management
Biography
Biography: Rajan Jose
Abstract
Materials discovery lies at the heart of human progress – new materials with high and unprecedented properties as well as understanding their relationship with chemical constitution have been the landmarks of human progress. The continued efforts to deploy a minimum amount of materials for a given function lead focusing on nanostructured materials; where the current focus is on materials of flat two-dimensional network with an atomic-layer thickness as well as designing materials of target functionality computationally using various materials theories. All these efforts gathered documented information on materials processing, characterization, modelling, and properties on diverse range of materials – expression of their size requires the largest units of data quantification. This big data on diverse range of materials could be utilized in materials R&D such that the process minimizes time span between conceptualization and commercialization, reduce cost and risk of experiments using hazardous chemicals, and preserve precious and rare materials for the eventual use – which is a protocol now getting referred as the “Fourth Paradigm of Materials Research” or “Materials 4.0”. Materials 4.0 would support the circular economy (CE), which is a concept or system used to eliminate waste and build economic, social and environmental capital. The shift from the linear economic model of “take, make and dispose” towards more CE approaches have promoted continuous and regenerative flows of materials whereas its predecessors create waste and degrade the ecosystems. This lecture will sees the evolution of materials discovery in generations, briefly describe the built-up infrastructure for the Materials 4.0, and cite few examples of materials discovery and lifecycle assessment under this protocol.