Power of Healing
Damaged rubber that repairs itself
Paris: French chemists on Feb.21, 2008 announced they had created a rubber that heals itself after being cut. This breakthrough could lead to clothes that self-mend if torn and toys that repair themselves if damaged by a tot.
The molecular concoction – described by other scientists as having “a touch of magic about it” – can self-heal at room temperature in around 15 minutes by simply pressing the damaged pieces together, they report in the science journal, NATURE.
Conventional rubber typically comprises long, cross-linked chains of polymers that can stretch and then recover to their original size and shape. The new formula made by a team at France’s National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and a private firm, Arkema, achieves the same elasticity by using a mixture of two different kinds of smaller molecules.
Some are ditopic, which means they can hook up with two molecules; others are tritopic, meaning they can associate with three molecules.
The network is meshed together by weaker hydrogen bonds, which get broken when the rubber is cut but also provide an atomic “glue,” recombining into chains to bridge severed parts.
The ingredients comprise fatty acids made from vegetable oils, combined in a stepped process with diethyline triamine and urea, both common chemicals.
Courtesy: AFP and The Hindu, Madurai, Feb.21, 2008
Damaged rubber that repairs itself
Paris: French chemists on Feb.21, 2008 announced they had created a rubber that heals itself after being cut. This breakthrough could lead to clothes that self-mend if torn and toys that repair themselves if damaged by a tot.
The molecular concoction – described by other scientists as having “a touch of magic about it” – can self-heal at room temperature in around 15 minutes by simply pressing the damaged pieces together, they report in the science journal, NATURE.
Conventional rubber typically comprises long, cross-linked chains of polymers that can stretch and then recover to their original size and shape. The new formula made by a team at France’s National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and a private firm, Arkema, achieves the same elasticity by using a mixture of two different kinds of smaller molecules.
Some are ditopic, which means they can hook up with two molecules; others are tritopic, meaning they can associate with three molecules.
The network is meshed together by weaker hydrogen bonds, which get broken when the rubber is cut but also provide an atomic “glue,” recombining into chains to bridge severed parts.
The ingredients comprise fatty acids made from vegetable oils, combined in a stepped process with diethyline triamine and urea, both common chemicals.
Courtesy: AFP and The Hindu, Madurai, Feb.21, 2008
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