Wolverine and his ability to self-heal wounds thanks to his regenerative abilities must have been the inspiration for a group of scientists at the University of California, Riverside (USA) to create this unusual material. – Conductive polymer.
Introduced in the 253rd American Chemical Society National Conference and Exhibition, paving a promising path in the electronics field. So what exactly is it about?
“A new self-healing material. It can be split in two and fully rejoined in just one day.”
This innovative material Constructed of a transparent, flexible polymervinylidene fluoride and hexafluoropropylene, a kind of ionic salt. It is a low-cost material that conducts ions to generate electricity, the researchers said. Can be stretched up to 50 times its original size And when it is split in two, the parts are fully reunited in just one day.
Considering these characteristics, it is already a promising base material for manufacturing soft robotics and smartphone devices. recently, Used in the production of new lithium batteriesBut it could soon be built into housings and screens and be able to self-repair if scratched.
Scientists have yet to test this material under adverse conditions, as they acknowledge that water can change its mechanical properties. In perhaps three to four years, it will undoubtedly become an integral component of what we call “smart” mobile phone devices..
Artificial tendons or prostheses that self-repair?
The University of Alicante (Spain) has developed another type of polymer with very similar properties.However, the self-healing process is accomplished in another way. José Miguel Martín Martínez and a research team from the Institute of Adhesives introduced the material at the end of 2015. Can recover 70% of attributes within 1 minute Even if you cut it in half, it will be fully back in place in just one day.
This discovery, like so many others, was the result of chance. While working on a durable material for coating oil-transporting pipes, they found that some of the elements they were using would show up in bonded form the next day.
According to the researchers, this new self-healing material achieves its properties through physical processes and can be replicated as many times as needed. In addition, its water resistance allows it to be used in a variety of applications such as: Manufacture of artificial tendons or prosthesesor as an integral part of electronic equipment.
sauce: El Mundo
