This semi-solid, half-liquid material can 'heal' itself

Scientists at Rice University in Texas have developed a semi-solid, semi-solid material that can restore itself to its original state if it is cracked or punctured. It can even become solid if compressed manually. With the name SAC (acronym for self-adaptive composite, self-adaptive material ), the team hopes the material will create a new revolution in the world.

This material is capable of self recovery if cracked or punctured.

Dr. Alin Cristian Chipara, author of the study, says what makes SAC special is that the solid matrix of a few micrometer-sized rubber balls based on the structure The living tissue of these tissues can slide over one another under pressure. In addition, Alin says that unlike the previously self-healing material of liquid, SAC is a standard solid.

Specifically, Alin and colleagues use a mixture of two different polymers in the same solvent. After evaporating the solvents, they obtained tiny special foam balls made of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and coated with a liquid lubricant layer called polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) . The internal fluid makes the SAC viscous and elastic, so if it is stretched or compressed, the matrix will return to its original state.

Self-contained solid SAC.

After that, the scientists compressed them in human form into porous pieces. In addition, Jun Bo, a member of the research team, said that they can change the solids of SAC by changing the composition ratio of PVDF and PDMS.

Even so, the research team said the two SAC components are easy to produce on a large scale and the SAC's self-healing behavior is up to 683 percent - surpassing most of the existing self-contained materials. world.

In fact, self-healing materials that can cure cracking or other damage have obviously become the subject of research for decades, but until now there has been a standard solid material like SAC. This could become the premise for self-contained liquid metal like the T-1000 assassin in the Terminator movie.