September/October 2007
Self-Healing Plastic
A material repairs itself multiple times.
By Prachi Patel
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Self-repair: Cracks release fluid from ¬microchannels (tubes); the fluid solidifies after touch¬ing catalysts (dots).
Credit: Janet Sinn Hanlon, University of Illinois |
A new polymer material that fixes its own cracks could be a step toward self-healing medical implants or self-repairing materials for use in airplanes and spacecraft. It consists of an epoxy polymer layer containing tiny catalyst particles, deposited on a substrate containing microchannels filled with a liquid.
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology