Self-healing materials for semi-dry conditions
Before we have self-healing cars or buildings, we need strong materials that can fully self-repair in water-free environments. Self-healing materials work very well if they are soft and wet, but research groups have found that the ability to self-repair diminishes as materials dry out. Scientists at Osaka University are beginning to bridge this gap with rigid materials that can repair 99% of a cut on the surface in semi-dry conditions. They present their prototypes, which are the first to combine physical and chemical approaches to self-healing, on November 10 in Chem . "The combination of physical and chemical self-healing enables materials to exhibit rapid and efficient self-healing even in a dried, hard state," says senior author Akira Harada, a supramolecular polymer chemist at Osaka University. "Only a small amount of water vapor is needed to facilitate self-healing in the dried film state. In other words, water serves as a non-toxic glue in the self-healing pr