Buildings that can repair themselves after earthquakes? Ships that can repair their own hulls in the event of a breach? Houses that can paint themselves?
All of these technologies may be a reality in the near future as scientists and researchers prepare to bring these types of 21st Century materials to the marketplace.
In the wake of last week’s Los Angeles earthquake, work crews scrambled to repair the damage caused to buildings, bridges and other structures. But in the near future, events such as these may be less catastrophic once structures are built with cement that can repair itself and other self-healing materials.
Intrinsic and Extrinsic Healing
Martin Hager — a chemist at the Laboratory of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry at Friedrich-Schiller-University in Jena, Germany — recently co-authored a paper on self-healing materials and their applications in future infrastructure development. In it, he describes polymers that have the ability to knit back together through a process known as “intrinsic healing”.
Another type of self-healing materials are “extrinisic healing” which could be created by adding new cutting-edge technologies to existing materials. For example, bacteria may be mixed into concrete or tiny capsules of a glue-like substance may be sprinkled into sealants used on ships.
Bio-Concrete Embedded with Bacteria
Bio-concrete, a substance currently being developed by Henk Jonkers, fills its own holes and cracks via bacteria grow into these areas and release calcium carbonate, a substance that is like limestone. The waste material from these bacteria — which are engineered from a type of extremophile bacteria that thrive in dry, arid conditions — seals the cracks and increases the stability and useful life of the structure.
So far, there are no materials that have the ability to heal themselves when they sense they have been damaged. But there already are many materials that heal themselves when exposed to excessive heat or water.
University of Illinois Connection
One company that manufactures such materials is Autonomic Materials, a privately held, early stage company based in Champaign, Illinois, that was founded by Dr. Scott White, a professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Illinois.
Autonomic Materials currently makes self-healing coatings for ships and large industrial equipment that are coated in polymers that protect against weathering, which can lead to breakdowns. The polymers sense cracks and release a type of resin from very small capsules that fill the damaged areas with a new layer of shell coating.
Nanomaterials for Clothing, Industry
But futuristic materials may not be limited to buildings, bridges and ships. Nanomaterials are microscopic-sized engineered substances that already are being used to make everything from super-strong adhesives, ultra-light aircraft that can more easily escape the Earth’s orbit, and even clothing material that can collect body heat and convert it into electric power.
Another type of nanomaterial that is currently being engineered is a type of paint that can detect microscopic faults in infrastructure such as the foundation of wind turbines, mine shafts and bridges and give out warning signals before further damage can occur.
And some nanomaterials may even include synthetic DNA in programmable glue that allows devices such as small electronics to assemble themselves.
When the next big earthquake or some other disaster hits, perhaps these technologies can help minimize the damage and speed up the cost and scale of the aftermath.