Self-healing

Soft robots and flexible electronics aren't as protected as their rigid-shelled counterparts, so they're more likely to get ripped or punctured. A new stretchable, self-healing conductive material was designed with this limitation in mind.

There are now a number of materials designed to give robots or prostheses a sense of touch. And while most of them are thin and skin-like, a new alternative takes the form of a spongey foam – and it combines several desirable qualities.

We've been hearing a lot lately about micro-robots, that could one day perform tasks such as capturing pollutants from the environment. Scientists have now created a sturdy batch of such bots, that heal back together when cut in two.

Materials that can heal themselves after becoming damaged have opened up some interesting new possibilities over the past decade or so, and a newly developed example inspired by squid ring teeth is claimed to act faster than most.

A substance known as calcium phosphate cement is commonly used to repair broken bones, both holding them together and encouraging the growth of new bone tissue. Now, scientists have added carbon fibers to the material to also make it self-healing.

When a regular material is torn or ruptured, it stays that way unless we tend to it with our hands or a machine to repair the damage. But a new self-healing conductive polymer needs no such help, and can regain full functionality after being severed.

We've already heard about experimental self-healing concrete, that can repair cracks within itself. Now, scientists have gone a step further, utilizing bacteria to create building materials that can be grown on-site – and that regenerate when broken.

In a quest for safer lithium-ion batteries, a team of engineers at the University of Illinois have come up with a solid polymer-based electrolyte that can not only heal itself but is recyclable without the need for high temperatures or strong acids.

​If we're ever going to get on top of the whole plastic waste problem, a partial solution may lie in substances that fix themselves when broken, instead of having to be discarded. With that in mind, many groups have been developing self-healing materials – and one of the latest functions like blood.

​It's certainly a hassle when a car gets a big paint-scratch, but smaller scratches in its clear coat are much more common and still unsightly. A new corn-based transparent finish could help, as its scratches heal up when subjected to heat.

Researchers have developed 3D-printed materials that can repair themselves after becoming fractured or punctured, which have the potential to be a game changer in the shoe industry, tire manufacture, soft robotics development and perhaps even electronics.

Researchers at Northwestern University have developed a self-healing coating that can patch up its imperfections in a matter of seconds. It can do so even when underwater or in chemically-harsh environments.​