Transcript
Imagine that you‘re driving your new car and misjudge a corner. There are suddenly small scratches on the side of your vehicle and you anticipate large repair costs.
Now, imagine that that you can repair these unsightly scratches yourself — quickly, easily and inexpensively. Fantasy? No, it‘s a new reality based on a discovery recently detailed in the journal Nature.
A team of researchers in the United States and Switzerland have developed a polymer-based material that can heal itself with the help of ultraviolet light. Called ―metallo-supramolecular polymers,‖ the new material is capable of becoming a supple liquid that fills crevices and gaps left by scrapes and scuffs when placed under ultraviolet light for less than a minute. It then re-solidifies when the light is removed.
This ingenious materials research demonstrates the versatility and power of novel polymeric materials to address technological issues and serve society while creating broadly applicable scientific concepts.
The researchers behind the discovery envision widespread uses for self-healing materials like theirs in the not-so-distant future. They‘ll be used primarily as coatings for consumer goods such as automobiles, floors, and furniture. While the ―metallo-supramolecular polymers‖ are not yet ready for commercial use, the concept has already been proven to work.
What happens next is up to the marketplace. Necessity, the mother of invention, will expand the possibilities for commercial applications.
The new materials were created by a mechanism known as supramolecular assembly. Unlike conventional polymers, which consist of long, chain-like molecules with thousands of atoms, these materials are composed of smaller molecules, which were assembled into longer, polymer-like chains using metal ions as ―molecular glue‖ to create the metallo-supramolecular polymers.
These metallo-supramolecular polymers behave in many ways like normal polymers but, when irradiated with intense ultraviolet light, the assembled structures become temporarily unglued. This transforms the originally solid material into a liquid that flows easily. When the light is switched off, the material re-assembles and solidifies again; its original properties are restored.
Using lamps such as those dentists use to cure fillings, the researchers repaired scratches in their polymers. Wherever they waved the light beam, the scratches filled up and disappeared, much like a cut that heals and leaves no trace on skin. While skin‘s healing process can be represented by time-lapse photography that spans several days or weeks, self-healing polymers heal in just seconds.
Likewise, the durability of the material does not seem to be compromised by repeated injuries. Tests showed the researchers could repeatedly scratch and heal their materials in the same location.
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