Ben Preiss
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Imagine if cracks in the road or in an airplane could heal themselves, kind of like you do when you get cut. That’s the idea that University of Illinois researchers have come up with. An epoxy-resin base is infused with a network of 200 micron diameter interconnected “capillaries” that are filled with a low viscosity “healing agent”.  'After damage occurs at the coating, healing agent wicks from the microchannels into the crack(s) through capillary action,' the researchers report in the journal Nature Materials. 'Once in the crack plane the healing agent interacts with the catalyst particles in the coating to initiate polymerisation, rebonding the crack faces autonomically. After a sufficient time period the cracks are healed and the structural integrity of the coating restored. As cracks reopen under subsequent loading the healing cycle is repeated.'
The Illinois team likens the system to that found in nature. 'Healing in biological systems is accomplished by a pervasive vascular network that supplies the necessary biochemical components,' they noted. 'A cut in the skin triggers blood flow from the capillary network in the dermal layer to the wound site rapidly forming a clot.owing to the vascular nature of this supply system minor damage to the same area can be healed repeatedly.'
(rsc.org)References: rsc.org Filed In: |
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