Development of adaptive and intelligent materials can help address many of the problems faced by modern societies, Konstantin Sergeevich Novoselov, Nobel laureate in Physics, has said.
Dr. Novoselov, who won the 2010 Physics Nobel jointly with Andre Geim 'for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene,' spoke online at the 34th Kerala Science Congress on the theme 'Science, technology and innovation for transition to a knowledge economy.'
Future materials should be functional in that they should be programmable to perform a complex response to external stimuli. They should also be 'intelligent;' they should have memory, and learn to perform a particular function, said Dr. Novoselov, who is currently Tan Chin Tuan Centennial Professor, Centre for Advanced 2D Materials, National University of Singapore.
Graphene, he explained, has many unique properties. “It is the thinnest material, it’s strong, it’s the most thermally conductive and permeable material, but perhaps the most important one is that all those superlative are combined in one material,” he said.
Relevance to Kerala
(Graphene is of relevance to Kerala as the Digital University Kerala has joined hands with the Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology, Thrissur, to set up the India Innovation Centre for Graphene.)
Graphene finds use in a variety of areas such as optoelectronics, energy, sensors, high frequency electronics and bioapplications, he pointed out. “’But these days, we are talking about not only graphene, but about the full family of two-dimensional materials,” Dr. Novoselov said.
Space programme
S. Somanath, chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), gave an overview of the Indian space programme and future plans. Kerala, with his educated and skilled manpower, has the potential to tap the opportunities offered by the space economy, he said. The focus segment, he said, should be on space applications. ''Many startups have come up across India and I invite more startups from Kerala make use of the services provided by the ISRO,'' Mr. Somanath said.