Quasicrystals [UPSC Current Affairs]

A new type of quasicrystal has been found in Nebraska, USA. What are quasicrystals? What are the uses of quasicrystals? Know more about quasicrystals for the IAS exam.

What are Quasicrystals?

Model of Quasicrystal Structure

Image source: nature.com

Up until the year 1982, only two types of materials were considered to exist: crystalline and amorphous. In 1982, material scientist Dan Shechtman discovered quasicrystals, and for this, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in the year 2011.

Quasi-crystals are crystal-like substances except that there is no periodic repetition of patterns in these materials, unlike crystals, when it comes to the arrangement of the atoms. The arrangement of the atoms is neither very random like in amorphous substances nor very regular as seen in the crystals. There exist certain patterns but these patterns do not repeat periodically.

Uses of Quasicrystals

Quasi-crystals possess very novel electrical, mechanical and photonic properties and because of this, they are used in a variety of industries for manufacturing various items of daily use.

For example, they are used in surgical instruments, manufacturing needles for acupunctures, dental instruments, razors, LED lights, nonstick frying, etc.

Quasicrystal Discovery Significance

Though Quasicrystals can be easily manufactured in the labs, finding natural quasicrystals is very rare because they require a very high amount of pressure and temperature shocks for their formation. Before this discovery, quasicrystals have been found only in two other locations of which one was a meteorite strike site while the other was a nuclear explosion location. According to the scientist that discovered this particular quasi-crystal in Nebraska, it was formed due to a lightning strike.

Another peculiar thing about this discovery is that up until now only the 5-fold symmetry quasicrystals have been found naturally or created in the labs. This particular quasicrystal has a 12-fold symmetry, which means that it can be mapped onto itself if rotated about a central point by an angle of 30 degrees (2π/12).

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