Successfully built cheap polymer material that is self-healing

Researchers at the University of Illinois have successfully built cheap, self-healing polymer materials.

A new high-resilient polymer material, self-healing after breaking and many other advantages have been successfully made thanks to recent research at the University of Illinois. Scientists have used "available" materials to create a polymer that can be self-bonded even when cut in half without using any other agent or chemical.

New materials are made from commercially available compounds but are blended with a special formula. In particular, the most common material is the polyurea elastomer commonly used in paints and plastics. The researchers say they have "refined" the molecular structure of the materials that make them more durable. As a result, molecules can not only easily pull together but also bind themselves together after the link is broken.

In a demonstration experiment, the researchers trimmed a "dynamic polyurea" sample and placed two adjacent cuts in a single day. As a result, the material was self-healing back to the original shape with all the features that were never cut out. The whole process is done at room temperature and if the temperature is pushed higher, the healing process will be faster.

In other studies, the same self-healing material was created. However, earlier materials only recovered themselves when not fully cut and had to use some of the side effects. In contrast, the University of Illinois's "polyurea-dynamic" material is completely self-healing based on the intrinsic internal structure of the material.