Normally this happens by accident, take phosphorus as an example, a man boiled pee to find gold, and instead got a glow in the dark, can catch on fire if you’re not careful kind of substance. The goal at that point is just to make the world know how cool what they found is! Now if by develop new materials you mean by mixing things together, like a pharmacist, they want to sell their product, whatever that may be, to better their business and to go home and feed themselves and their families, I hope this was the answer you needed!
