Research on self-repairing materials

Researchers realize a material able to behave as a polymer and to repair in case of scratches and small lesions. Ideal for roofing proof of damage, such as the painting of cars

Rome - A joint research team at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and the University of Freiburg (Germany) has developed a material with self-healing properties, can have the same characteristics of a polymer while not, in fact, a polymer .

The material is defined as "supramolecular polymer-metal", and is composed of a row of molecules court that they all behave the same way. Researchers are then able to make the compound sensitive to ultraviolet light, in the presence of which the molecules of the polymer melt and go to fill in the areas in which the compound is deficient.

In the demo video, shot directly in research laboratories, the scholars who have synthesized the new plastic explain its self-healing properties: a razor blade cuts the entire surface of a small sample of the super-polymer, but exposure to UV UV allows the sample to "heal" from the cut in a matter of seconds.

Noteworthy, say the authors of the study, the potential of the new polymer technology. Of course, please consider the possible negative effects of heat on the plastic covers self-healing, but the researchers have no doubts about the future use of the material in concrete practical applications.

 

28/04/2011

 

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Translated via software

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Source:

Italian version of ReteArchitetti.it