An Introduction to Material Design Principles: Damage Prevention versus Damage Management

Materials science is one of the most fascinating and challenging areas of science. It is both an old and a new science. Materials science not only determined our oldest history and even named it (i.e. Bronze Age, Iron Age), but still determines the pace of breakthrough developments in our daily life. Our mobile telephone/camera systems only became reality because of new battery materials, novel light-sensitive detector materials and new developments in silicon IC technology. On the other hand, transport of electrical currents in the national grid system still leads to large energy losses because materials scientists have not been able to create materials showing superconductivity at room temperature. Quantum computing would lead to a quantum jump in computing power, but is still some time away due to the fact that materials with the required properties and stability have not been created yet.