Article written by guest writer Kecia Lynn What's the Latest
Development? Nancy Sottos, an engineer at the University of
Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, creates materials that mimic
biological systems by being able to heal themselves when
damaged. One of her plastics consists of a polymer sheet that
conceals a three-dimensional network of hollow channels, which
are then filled with two different liquids. To test the plastic,
she bends it until a crack appears. As the crack grows in size,
it connects with the liquid-filled channels, which then combine
to create an epoxy that fills in the crack and hardens. The
plastic can not only repair more than 50 cracks in a row, it can
be "recharged" with additional fluids. What's the Big Idea?
Structural failures of large objects such as bridges often start
with one small crack that grows slowly over time. Sottos'
materials aim to catch those cracks before major damage can
occur. The network of tiny liquid-filled channels acts just like
the human vascular system, which can