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Wednesday, 4th April 2007 (5736 views)

Scientists have been developing techniques which could see metals have the ability to be returned to their original shape.

Scientists from the University of Illinois have carried out tests on gold and aluminium, with the microstructures within the materials being heated to produce metal films with very fine grains.

According to mechanical engineer Taher Saif, while the type of metal used is not of importance, the size and distribution of the grains within the microstructure is.

Mr Saif said that in the conventional make up of metals, malleable materials will not be able to return to their original state, reports MSNBC.

However, he said that the testing of microstructures "showed for the first time that metal can snap back after deformation".

Reported in the journal Science, the research team also concluded that to create materials which possessed so-called 'memory', the atomic grains within had to be neither too large nor too small.

 

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