In nature, some organisms have the ability to repair themselves when damaged.
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have created a self-healing material to mimic this property in nature but with manufactured machines that could lead to robots spontaneously repairing after extreme mechanical damage.
This soft-matter composite material is composed of liquid metal droplets suspended in a soft elastomer. When damaged, the droplets rupture to form new connections with neighboring droplets and reroute electrical signals without interruption. Researchers say circuits produced with conductive traces of this material remain fully and continuously operational when severed, punctured or with material removed.
The material could be used for applications such as bio-inspired robotics, human-machine interaction and wearable computing. Researchers say the material also has high electrical conductivity that does not change when stretched. It can be used in power and data transmission.
"Other research in soft electronics has resulted in materials that are elastic and deformable, but still vulnerable to mechanical damage that causes immediate electrical failure," said Carmel Majidi, an associate professor of mechanical engineering. "The unprecedented level of functionality of our self-healing material can enable soft-matter electronics and machines to exhibit the extraordinary resilience of soft biological tissue and organisms."
Majidi said if new machines are going to be built that can be compatible with the human body, these types of new materials will be needed.
The full research can be found in the journal Nature Materials.
