Molecular architects—how scientists design new materials

Then we learned to synthesize new materials out of old

ones, like shaping clay into bricks or pots and baking them into stone. Plastics entered our repertoire as a concoction of cotton, acid and wood tar.

Much of the quest for novel materials has moved into science labs. The search is more efficient than when Albertus Magnus (allegedly) synthesized the Philosopher's Stone, but the game is still intelligent serendipity. We try combinations of ingredients, combinations of heating, mixing and other processes, and hope that one of them works. During the last few decades, a scaled-up, highly organized and automated search system called "combinatorial chemistry" has produced new drugs and materials including automotive coatings, hydrogen storage materials, materials for solar cells, metal alloys and organic dyes.

Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2016-04-molecular-architectshow-scientists-materials.html#jCp