Self-Healing Polymer Puts Itself Back Together with Water

First Posted: Sep 02, 2015 06:10 PM EDT

Scientists may have created a new material that self-heals with water. The multiphase polymer, which was created from the genetic code of squid ring teeth, may one day extend the life of medical implants, fiber-optic cables and other hard to repair in place objects.

To create this new material, the researchers looked at the ring teeth of squid collected from around the world-from the Mediterranean to the Sea of Japan. Within the teeth, they found that proteins with self-healing properties are ubiquitous. However, the composition varied between squid species.

In order to create a uniform material, the researchers used biotechnology to create similar proteins in bacteria. The polymer resulting from this could be molded either using heat or cast by solvent evaporation.

The two-part material is a copolymer consisting of an amorphous segment that is soft and a more structured molecular architecture. The structured portion consists of strands of amino acids connected by hydrogen bonds to form a twisted and/or pleated sheet. This part also provides strength for the polymer, but the amorphous segment provides the self-healing.

"What's unique about this plastic is the ability to stick itself back together with a drop of water," said Melik Demirel, one of the researchers, in a news release. "There are other materials that are self healing, but not with water."

The researchers found that when a broken material was introduced to warm water at about 113 degree Fahrenheit, the halves of the material reunited. In addition, tests showed that the material after healing was as strong as when it was initially created.

"If one of the fiber-optic cables under the ocean breaks, the only way to fix it is to replace it," said Demirel. "With this material, it would be possible to heal the cable and go on with operation, saving time and money. Maybe someday we could apply this approach to healing of wounds or other applications. It would be interesting in the long run to see if we could promote wound healing this way so that is where I'm going to focus now."

The findings are published in the journal Scientific Reports.

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TagsMaterials Science, Materials, Self-Repair, Water, Squid, Protein, bacteria