There’s nothing more likely to drive you into spasms of hysteria than the sight of a dent on your swanky new car. Don’t worry, there’s a billion dollar industry to help you cover up, protect, insure and repair all that you own. Could the laptop that fell off the table self heal at night and be perfect when you wake up in the morning? Can the scratches on your car and phone be self-aware and vanish overnight? Yes, they can and most of it is happening right now.
These smart materials have the ability to repair damage without human intervention. Just like the human body has the ability to heal after being wounded, various polymers, plastics, ceramics and paints now have self repair abilities. Lots of different approaches exist: microcapsules that burst when paint gets scratched and coat over the scratch. Or polymers with bond catalysts embedded that mix with it to renew a surface when dented or defaced. There is even Solid State and Biomimetic repair technology that is working. Time to toss that thick, padded cell phone cover in the trash!
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