NCIE
NCIE
Korean scientists have created a self-healing coating for machines and equipment
Scientists from the Korea Research Institute have developed a transparent protective coating material that can self-heal in 30 minutes when exposed to sunlight. The work of scientists was published in the journal ACS Applied Polymer Materials.
To demonstrate the self-healing ability of the developed material, the research team covered a scratched lab model of a car with it. When the car model was exposed to midday sunlight and spent about 30 minutes under it, the scratch completely disappeared.
When sunlight is absorbed by the material developed, the surface temperature rises as the light energy is converted into heat energy, the scientists said. Subsequently, the elevated surface temperature makes it possible for the surface scratch to self-heal by recombining the chemical bonds in the polymer structure.
The developed self-healing material is expected to be used in the future as a coating material for vehicles, electronic devices such as smartphones and computers, and building materials.
