I just received the sad news that one of the legends of materials science and of science, in general, Rustum Roy, passed away last week. Although he was a stellar researcher, he considered himself to be a citizen-scientist and urged his colleagues to deeply consider how science, society, art and education can interact in productive and nonproductive ways.

It is difficult to summarize Roy’s influence on the world of science, let alone just the fields of ceramics and glass. He held five professorships: three at Pennsylvania State University, one at Arizona State University and one at the University of Arizona. He was a 32-year member of the National Academy of Engineering, with the rare distinction also of having been elected to the National Academies of Science/Engineering of Russia, Japan, Sweden and India.

In 2003, the Institute for Scientific Information ranked Penn State’s Materials Research Laboratory, which he founded in 1962 and directed for a quarter century, first in the world on the basis of the number of highly cited scientists in the lab.

Roy left a permanent mark on the materials field, starting with its most fundamental base: phase diagrams and crystal chemistry. His discovery and championing of a major discovery in new materials processing — the sol–gel process — has been utilized (not only cited) in over 50,000 papers. His work in hydrothermal reaction, microwave processing, nucleation in glass, radioactive wastes, nanocomposites and superconductors have also left a permanent legacy.

Roy became a Fellow of The American Ceramic Society in 1961 and elevated to Distinguished Life Member in 1993. He had also sponsored one of the most anticipated annual lectures of ACerS: The Frontiers of Science Rustum Roy Lecture series that has been a fixture of the Society’s Annual Meetings.

Roy authored or coauthored hundreds of papers, founded and edited numerous newsletters and journals in materials science and engineering education. One of his recent papers appeared in the first issue of ACerS’ new International Journal of Applied Glass Science, “Glass Science and Glassmaking: A Personal Perspective” [ed. note - this paper is available at no cost] and represents something of a tour de force of his career:

“This paper demonstrates how glass has provided one of the earliest, and still rare, examples of controlled use of science at the nanolevel in a well-established gigatechnology. The glass community-from the Venetian glass makers (and the science of luminaries such as Michael Faraday and Isaac Newton) down through major industrial successes such as glass-ceramics-are examples of excellent nanoengineers practicing clever applications of manipulation of matter at the nano and subnano scale. This paper describes the evolution of the understanding of nanoheterogeneity of the structure (and composition of virtually all useful glasses) that has been the key evolutionary “invention” in this process. It then makes the case that glass (and polymer) technology has an enormous advantage over all of the nanomaterial technologies that are confronted with the enormous barrier of assembling large numbers of very small particles into useful products on a large scale, as recognized by the recently anointed patron saint of the present nanofever, Richard Feynman, in his only paper in the field. Finally, this paper introduces glass scientists to a radically new opportunity via a totally new way to convert crystalline matter into glasses (noncrystalline solids)-for all scientists interested in the glassy state.”

Roy also chaired the Science Advisory Committee of the Friends of Health, a nonprofit group that examines a range of disruptive innovations in human healing based on materials science and physics.

In an obituary on Penn State’s website, one of Roy’s colleagues, Carlo Pantano, had this to say:

“Rustum Roy made a difference for the field of materials science and for Penn State. He had a tremendous publication record extending back 60 years that people still refer to in their research. At every step of the way he seemed to be ahead of the curve, in research as well as in the way he managed the scientific enterprise. He was well-known to be an enthusiastic and provocative lecturer by students and colleagues alike. His crystal chemistry course was on every graduate student’s course list, in addition to numerous special topics courses he created in concert with the latest and hottest research topics in materials science.”

Roy was interested in science policy as much as science, itself, and he served as a science policy fellow at the Brookings Institution from 1982 to 1983 and was a visiting fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C., from 1980 to 1985.

He was also a lay preacher and served on the board of the National Council of Churches and helped found the Sycamore Community church.

Finally, it is important to note Roy’s long-time marriage to fellow materials scientist Della Martin Roy, another legendary figure in the world of material science and policy.

Here is Roy’s formal obituary from the Centre Daily Times:

Rustum Roy, 86, of State College, died Thursday, August 26, 2010 at Foxdale Village.

Born on July 3, 1924, in Ranchi, India, he was the seventh child of the late Narendra Kumar and Rajkumari Roy. On June 8, 1948, he married Della Martin, who survives.

Also surviving are three children, Neill R. Roy and his wife, Evelina Francis, of State College, Jeremy R. Roy and his wife, Lydia, of Arlington, Tex., and Ronnen A. Roy and his wife, Sinaly, of Bethesda, Md.; two grandchildren, Simone and Naren; a brother, Prodipto Roy of India, and a sister Ioni Dipti Sisodia of Georgia; and by numerous nieces and nephews.

He received B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from Patna University and received his Ph.D. from the Pennsylvania State University.

He was associated with Penn State for sixty-five years as a graduate student and faculty member. At Penn State he held positions as Evan Pugh Professor of the Solid State, as Professor of S.T.S., and as Professor of Geochemistry. He also was a Distinguished Professor of Materials at Arizona State University, and a Visiting Professor of Medicine at the University of Arizona. He was appointed and served for 23 years as the first director of an independent interdisciplinary Materials Research Laboratory in the U.S. He was elected to numerous national and international scientific academies including the U.S. National Academy of Engineering. He co-founded the pioneering nterdisciplinary scientific society - the Materials Research Society- and continued to advance the boundaries of science and technology up to the present, including seminal research in the emerging field of water science, as well as resonance effects in condensed matter.

An outstanding aspect of his life was his capacity and dedication to breaking artificial boundaries in order to integrate science, religion, education, health, art and social action for human benefit. As an eight year old, in his parent’s house he met Gandhi, who discussed with his father how personal change was more effective for human advancement than technological change. Professor Roy’s solution in life was to pursue both.

He was very active in ecumenical religious life for over 60 years and co-founded the interdenominational Sycamore Community. His insight into the world’s main religions led him to work to break down the boundaries between Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism and other religions. He served on the Executive Committee of the National Council of Churches, was a leader in the Kirkridge retreat center, and was the friend and colleague of many religious leaders including Bishop John Robinson, John Shelby Spong, Prof. Harvey Cox, Sister Joan Chittister and Reverend Gordon Cosby. He was also invited by the Pope to the Vatican committee regarding the rehabilitation of Galileo.

He was a champion of interdisciplinary K-12 schooling and was the driving force behind creation of the interdisciplinary field of Science, Technology and Society. He served as Science Advisor to a number of successive Pennsylvania Governors and chaired for many years the Science and Society Sector of President Mikhail Gorbachev’s State of the World forum.

Professor Roy became a champion of integrative medicine, resulting in alliances with pioneering figures including Andrew Weil, Deepak Chopra, Larry Dossey, B.M. Hegde, Marc Newkirk, Patrick Flanagan, Hans Peter Duerr, Vladimir Voeikov, and Yan Xin, with the purpose of bringing advances in the art and science of whole person healing to the wider public. He was founder and sponsor of Friends of Health, served as co-chair of the Chopra Foundation, and hosted a live Internet talk radio show onVoiceAmerica.com.

He was also a long time promoter of art and the field of art and science, and was responsible for bringing the works of artists, such as Barbara Hepworth, Max Bill, and Fredrick Franck, to the University.

 

Microneedles fabricated with two-photon polymerization:
Credit: Royal Society of Chemistry

I first covered ACerS member Roger Narayan’s work in the field of two-photon polymerization a little more than a year ago in a story for ACerS’ membership magazine, the Bulletin. For several years, Narayan, a professor in the Joint Biomedical Engineering Department that is connected with NC State’s College of Engineering and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has been examining the use of this rapid prototyping approach using ceramic–polymer hybrid materials to create patient-specific microscale medical prostheses, scaffolds for tissue engineering and microscale medical devices.

One of set of applications he has been working on, in particular, is using two-photon polymerization to create arrays of fine microneedles. (Conceptually, Narayan’s polymerization process is like a 3D inkjet process that builds up structures on the nanoscale.)

Recently, Narayan coauthored a paper on the novel use of microneedles to deliver quantum dots into the skin. “Our findings are significant, in part, because this technology will potentially enable researchers to deliver quantum dots, suspended in solution, to deeper layers of skin. That could be useful for the diagnosis and treatment of skin cancers, among other conditions,” Narayan says in a news release from NCSU.

QDs, sometimes called “artificial atoms,” are semiconductor materials that fall into the category of nanocrystals, and they contain a variable number of electrons that occupy well-defined, discrete quantum states.

This groups is attracted to the use of QDs because of their ability to serve as fluorophores and also work as drug delivery vehicles. QD-based fluorescent probes can be engineered to be superior to organic dye fluorophore by being brighter and having better photostability (can fluoresce after one hour of continuous excitation), signal-to-noise ratio, emission ranges and flourescent lifetimes. Researchers report they can use their intense fluorescence to track individual molecules.

 

Sample quantum dot with bio coating. Credit: Histesh R. Patel

At this point, Narayan and the other researchers just are using the microneedles on pig skin and can capture images of the quantum dots entering the skin using multiphoton microscopy. Although this work is still preliminary, these images allow the researchers to verify the basic effectiveness of the microneedles as a delivery mechanism for quantum dots.

The hope is that multiphoton microscopy will have clinical applications using real-time imaging materials such as the quantum dots for faster diagnosis of cancers or other medical problems.

Weddings, vacation, illness, travel days . . .  Looking back, sometimes there have been events that caused us to miss a few good ceramic- and glass-related developments and press releases. The stories in this grab bag have only a few cobwebs on them, so check ‘em out:

Cementing success: Startup that eyes radical shift in cement industry wins MIT $100K business-plan competition

Closing in on a carbon-based solar cell

Better boron nitride nanotubes may be on the way

Lasers at the cutting edge of science

Japanese company develops world’s first ultra-thin piezoelectric waterproof speaker

Murata Supplying World’s Smallest 0402*-Size 10μF 6.3V-Rated Monolithic Ceramic Capacitor

Nanospheres stretch limits of hard disk storage

and, a video from Onyx Solar: Paving the way for building integrated photovoltaics:

Credit: Tetsuya Blues

A fascinating report presented today at a science meeting in Boston describes technology that could capture large amounts of electrical energy from the air, energy that is normally manifest as lightning.

A research group from the University of Campinas (Brazil) led by Fernando Galembeck thinks this air-based power source can be harnessed into a significant supply of electricity for a variety of consumers and lessen the dangers of lightening. “Our research could pave the way for turning electricity from the atmosphere into an alternative energy source for the future,” says Galembeck. “If we know how electricity builds up and spreads in the atmosphere, we can also prevent death and damage caused by lightning strikes.” He delivered the report at a meeting of the American Chemical Society.

Electricity in the air is formed when water vapor collects on microscopic particles of dust and other airborne materials. Galembeck has been studing electricity in the air for some time.

Recently, his group used particles of silica and aluminum phosphate, both common in the atmosphere, and according to Galembeck, found that that silica becomes negatively charged in high humidity and aluminum phosphate becomes more positively charged. They also found “clear evidence that water in the atmosphere can accumulate electrical charges and transfer them to other materials it comes into contact with,” says Galembeck. “We are calling this ‘hygroelectricity,’ meaning ‘humidity electricity’.”

Some of the groups work is discussed in a letter in a recent edition of Langmuir.

Galembeck describes the concept of special photovoltaic-like collectors that could capture hygroelectricity and route it to homes and businesses. He adds that hygroelectrical panels would best in geographic regions with high humidity.

His group also envisions using the panels to prevent the formation of lightning. They believe that hygroelectrical panels on top of buildings could drain electricity out of the air, and prevent the building of electrical charge that is released in lightning.

He says the next step is to find materials with the greatest potential for use.

“These are fascinating ideas that new studies by ourselves and by other scientific teams suggest are now possible,” Galembeck said. “We certainly have a long way to go. But the benefits in the long range of harnessing hygroelectricity could be substantial.”

“Dry water.” Credit: ACS.

The American Chemical Society today distributed a story that came out of one of its meetings regarding the use of “dry water” powder as a medium for absorbing CO₂, enhancing certain chemical reactions and storing emulsions. Although the story is interesting, it’s not exactly clear to me if the CO₂ angle, which is the one being played up, is really news. But, here is the scoop anyway.

The background to this is that Andrew Cooper and his group at the University of Liverpool have been playing around with uses for dry water for several years. DW is really just tiny water droplets that have been given a coating of hydrophobic fumed silica, except that it sort of looks like fine sand or sugar. What goes on with the creation of DW is akin to the phenomenon one sees if a water droplet fall onto powdered mud: The water droplet balls up and has a visible coating of the dust.

Making DW is apparently simple enough. It basically requires putting a mixture of water and hydrophobic fumed silica (19:1, by mass) in an ordinary blender.

Back in 2008, Cooper and his researchers gained some notoriety because they successfully demonstrated that DW could be used to store methane (in the form of methane gas hydrate) in a powder form if kept at low temperatures (-70°C) or under pressure.

The thinking of Cooper and others in his group at the time was that since the DW/methane gas hydrate combo can be easily made, it could be used to store and transport large amounts of methane for use, for example, in cars. They said that in 30 minutes a liter of methane gas could be stored in just 6 grams of DW.

But, even then, they also described the use of DW as an absorbent for CO₂.

Cooper et al. also published an update on DW in late 2009, describing a method of making the DW perform as a gas separator and be recyclable by including a gelling agent.

So, the thrust of today’s story is that Cooper argues that DW is being overlooked as a piece of solving the CO₂ accumulation problem. According to the ACS release, “Cooper and coworkers found that dry water absorbed over three times as much carbon dioxide as ordinary, uncombined water and silica in the same space of time. This ability to absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide gas as a hydrate could make it useful in helping to reduce global warming, the scientists suggested.”

But, like I said, I am not sure what the news is here.

Perhaps its more newsworthy that Cooper also described two new applications for DW:

• To speed up catalyzed reactions between hydrogen gas and maleic acid to produce succinic acid, eliminating the need to stir the mixture; and
  
• To transform simple emulsions into a dry powder, making it safer and easier for manufacturers to store and transport potentially hazardous materials.