Drawing inspiration from nature: Polymers that repair themselves when damaged.
Image 1 By incorporating a microencapsulated healing agent, a synthetic material that can autonomously mend cracks was first developed by a team of researchers from the University of Illinois. Since then materials with diverse applications have been designed with self-healing properties.
The latest of which is a polymer that contains a vascular network, which delivers healing chemicals to the site of damage. The vasculature consists of microchannels, which are integrated in the material in such a way that when damage occurs, the network of channels breaks apart releasing the healing components. Polymerization is induced, resulting in regeneration – with the recurrence of the healing process guaranteed.
The regeneration process is indeed akin to our own wound healing system. So confirms one of the authors of this groundbreaking research: “We have demonstrated repair of a nonliving, synthetic materials system in a way that is reminiscent of repair-by-regrowth as seen in some living systems.”
While previously generated materials can only repair small-scale damages, this new invention is capable of managing volumes 100 times larger than the ones achieved before. Generation of commercial regenerative plastics and polymers with inbuilt vascular systems is the hope for the researchers who have created this self-repairing polymer.
Cover image: Time-lapse of the healing process (Photo by Nathan Bajandas).
References
The synthetic material was reported in the Science journal: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/344/6184/620
http://beckman.illinois.edu/news/2014/04/self-healing-composites
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