Will Supermolecules and Supercomputers Lead to Super Construction Materials?

Improvements in construction materials have generally been evolutionary, not revolutionary. Improvements of a few percent over the course of a decade are considered progress. Two relatively new and synergistic technologies have the potential to significantly change the way materials are developed: the discovery and use of carbon nanotubes and the increasing practicality of modeling materials at the molecular level. Taken together, these technologies may facilitate the development of materials over the next several decades that offer an order-of-magnitude improvement in performance. Several groups, including the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, are operating research programs intended to effect such a transformation.