Nostradamus may have predicted the Great Fire of London, the French Revolution and the Atomic bomb, but he never foresaw the most popular bane of people’s lives here in the 21st century: dropping a smartphone.
Yeah, we’ve all been there. The fumble, the crack, and the ultimate reveal. It’s devastating.
The usual remedy was to send it off for repair. Not anymore.
University of Melbourne researchers are developing a self-healing gel that could prevent screens from permanent damage.
Melbourne School of Engineering researcher Dr Luke Connal said:
After printing, these objects can heal a crack or even a cut and regain their original strength. This could enable custom printing of coatings that can heal after breakages, potentially as coatings for mobile phones.
The materials we developed can also change shape when triggered by being swollen in a solvent, such as water. This enables printed objects to change shape once printed, which is known as 4D printing.
The paper was published in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s olecular Systems Design & Engineering journal.
The report added:
Self-healing materials are capable of recovering from damages and restoring their functionality, just like the natural ability of living creatures to repair their tissues,” their report explained. “This unique property offers the ability to extend the lifetime of products, which is usually limited by mechanical failures.
Here’s hoping they’re here by Christmas.
