Self-Healing Polymer Can Patch Itself Up Without Need for External Sources

First Posted: Oct 02, 2015 12:14 PM EDT

Researchers may have created a material that can actually heal itself. Scientists have developed a flexible polymeric material that's capable of self-repairing.

The new material is a type of transparent resin. When cut with scissors in half and put back in contact with its other half, it actually rejoins itself within 10 to 15 seconds without using any external source. Needless to say, this is huge for materials science.

"This property is a novelty all over the world that gives way to the development of different materials for their applications in sectors such as medicine, cosmetics, space industry, automotive and many others," write the researchers in a news release. "Just to give an example, catheters for internal use in medicine would be possible with this material, so if it broke inside a human body to immobilize a person for a few seconds would be enough for this material to self-heal."

The material also has shape memory. This means that even if it's crushed and kneaded, it recovers its original shape in just a few seconds. This could be huge for medical science as well as other areas of science where broken parts can greatly impact the functioning of a certain device.

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TagsPolymer, Materials Science, Metamaterials, Materials, Tech, Self-Repair