Researchers Develop The Self-Healing Rubber » DoSci - Science Blog

Researchers Develop The Self-Healing Rubber » DoSci - Science Blog




Researchers Develop The Self-Healing Rubber
Posted By Dragos Pirvu on March 9, 2008
French researchers are the proud inventors of a material that self-heals when it is cut in pieces. This material is an artifical rubber made of vegetable oil and one of urine’s component. When cut, the substance has a strong chemical attraction and the pieces rejoin without the need of glue and they look like they have never been separated.
According to the French scientistis, this material is not entirely green for the moment, but they already entered into production and they expect to improve the manufacturing process soon enough.
The material self-repairs thanks to its composition that keeps the molecules together unlike regular rubber which consists of network made of covalent links that if are broken cannot be repaired. The researchers have replaced the covalent connections with a technique similar to hydrogen bonds which are weaker and easy to be remade.
This effect was demonstrated by François Tournilhac which cut the rubber and after an hour the material self-healed and there was no evidence to show any damage. Dr. Ludwik Leibler, header of the research, made a few suggestions for the use of the rubber: one is for seals and another is for toys which are broken by kids every day and he said that it would be nice to help the children and the parents, too, because they would not have to buy so many toys.
Tags: Research,Rubber,Science,Self-Healing,Self-Healing Material,Self-Healing Rubber,Self-Repairing Material,Self-Repairing Rubber,Tech,Technology
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