AtomX a superhero proposal
AtomX: Superhero Proposal
We have grown-up listening and seeing stories of many superheroes with their cool superpowers be it Spiderman with his web shooters or Captain America with his strength the list is endless. Usually we like to see superheroes in action but given this opportunity to design our own superhero almost seems surreal. Hence I present to you “AtomX” who has the power to alter structural integrity of materials and can become invisible. How is this scientifically possible?
Power 1#:Altering Structural Integrity via Creep Deformation
Many common materials around us are crystalline which are regular or repeating structures at atomic level. There are two types of point defects in these crystalline structures, vacancy and interstitial. A vacancy refers to an atom being taken away from the material, which is commonly used in steel-making. It can be produced via thermal agitation by increasing temperatures, which provide space for atoms to vibrate, shift to another place and allow vacancy to migrate in the structure itself. An interstitial refers to adding another atom, as depicted below :-
Picture-1
The equilibrium concentration of vacancies ‘nv’ varies exponentially with temperature ‘T’.
nv=e-ΔG/RT
Where;
ΔG=ΔH-TΔS
'ΔG’ refers to the change in Gibbs free energy of the crystal due to the formation of single vacancy,'ΔH’ corresponds to the enthalpy change of the crystal and 'ΔS’ is the thermal entropy of ‘nv’ vacancies due to the formation of a single vacancy at a given absolute temperature ‘T’. Additionally 'ΔS’ will also refer to configurational entropy of vacancies present in the crystal or the degree of random distribution of vacancies present in the crystal. With increase in temperature the random nature of vacancy distribution increases in the crystal and so does 'ΔS’, which results to increased internal energy of the crystal('ΔH’). The increase in these two parameters with temperature will give a smaller 'ΔG’ value which in turn will result into a higher equilibrium concentration of vacancies at a given temperature.
The way “AtomX” will manipulate above property is via Creep deformation to deteriorate the structural integrity of material. Creep deformation refers to the usage of materials at higher temperature and pressure for a long period of time to allow shift of these vacancies. There are substances, which are subjected to creep deformation even at lower temperatures e.g. polymers like plastics.
Picture-2
In metallic alloys the mechanism used for “Creep deformation” is “Dislocation climb”. This deformation is done via moving dislocations along the material. If we exponentially increase the number of vacancies (as per relation mentioned earlier) in the point defect schematic above, a possibility of increasing atomic motion is created in the atoms in the lower edge for them to move up into the adjacent vacancies. Multiple such events would take all of the leading edge atoms (blue circle) out of the structure, which vacancies migrate within the structure, especially if there are a higher number of vacancies present.
An obstacle like a solute atom present in this migration would keep previous dislocation under a shearing action for moving along, causing plastic deformation, also known as Dislocation climb. Depending upon property of the material, it would create a significant amount of strain field within, which leads to wearing down of their structural integrity, leading to Creep deformation.
Superhero “AtomX” shall be able to cause these Creep deformations with its ability to detect the type of material around it. She shall use machine learning algorithms to feed information collected via sensors of target materials to decide immediately on type, condition and methodology to implement these Creep deformations. “AtomX” shall create the favourable conditions (temperature & Pressure) by using soft-robotics gloves which relies on the principle of manipulating the volume of air and accordingly pressure to be exerted on the material. These gloves would be lined up with carbon nano-fibers to make material tough and durable including in-built nano-heaters which shall be used to manipulate temperature on the material.
Power 2#:Invisibility
Invisibility refers to the ability of not being seen. “AtomX” would be able to achieve this in two ways: Genetically and technologically.
Genetically, she would have a mutation with genetic variants similar to that of a chameleon. The Cephalopod species has a unique set of gene codes that helps them to change their color to their surroundings, by capturing the patterns in the environment, processing them and mimicking them via their skin.”AtomX” would also have same powers allowing her to blend with her surroundings and be invisible. Research has been going on for several decades and Scientists have shortlisted 6 genetic variants which can allow her to be invisible.
Technologically, there are two ways in which ‘AtomX” can become invisible. The primary method for that is known as Quantum Stealth, which is a material making the target completely invisible by bending light waves around it and removing visual,infrared signatures and shadows. This Stealth is made of thin sheet of plastic with cylindrical ridges on one side known as lenticular lenses.These lenses are magnifying lenses which refract light so it ends up dispersing at different angles.These lenses can also be arranged at different angles for better scrambling light.
Picture-3
Second way to make “AtomX”invisible shall be to use metamaterials. These are synthetic composites with a structure such that it exhibits properties not usually found in natural materials, especially a negative refractive index. A suit made of Metamaterials or Quantum Stealth shall be able to make “AtomX” invisible by bending light rays around it.
Given these powers “AtomX” would be a supersoldier who can be extremely useful to the military in terms of strengthening their armours and tanks or even sabotage enemy’s making them weaker so that it is easier for humans to win against any unusual forces. In the same way she can also use her powers to take out terrorists. This is just the beginning of this Superhero and further enhancement to be done in future phases.
Bibliography:-
https://sciencing.com/military-invisibility-cloak-13722600.html
https://www.twi-global.com/technical-knowledge/faqs/structural-integrity
Coursera Course-Material Sciences:10 things every Engineer should know
https://www.wired.com/2014/04/how-do-chameleons-change-colors/
https://phys.org/news/2012-12-quantum-stealth-material-invisible.html
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