Autonomous self-healing ionic conductor technology can repair damage within 24 hours. The self-healing polymer uses ion-dipole electrical interactions to active the transparent artificial muscles.
It's also transparent, and highly stretchable.
The details of this new technology were published in a paper December 23rd, to appear in the 2017 Advanced Materials journal. It was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, University of California and University of Colorado. These findings represent the first time scientists have created a material that ions can flow through, known as an ionic conductor.
This electrically activated material can be used to power artificial muscles, and improve the longevity of other technologies such as batteries, electronic devices, biosensors, transparent loudspeakers, manufacturing robotics and other future robotic systems we end up developing. Robots and other technology could self-heal after certain mechanical failures.
Chao Wang, one of the authors of the paper, says this is a "puzzle" they have now unlocked, of combining all of these properties into one material, and they are "just beginning to explore the applications."
Wang has been a lifelong fan of Wolverine, the X-Men comic-book character who has the ability to heal extremely fast.
Current technology of self-healing polymers make use of non-covalent bonds, which is a problem because these "bonds are affected by electrochemical reactions degrade the performance of the material." Wang and his colleagues used ion-dipole interactions which are highly stable under electrochemical conditions. This combined with a polar stretchable polymer and a high ionic strength salt created the material with the "mystery puzzle" properties the researchers were looking for: highly stretchable, transparent self-healing material.
The result is a soft rubbery material that can stretch 50 times its original length. It completely re-attaches or heels from a cut within 24 hours at room temperature. Even after only five minutes of healing, the material can withstand stretching two times its original length.
And it's low cost!
The ability for a material to autonomously repair itself mimics the behavior of muscles within animal bodies, hence an "artificial muscle" analogous symbolic term is used.
Electrical signals are used to get the artificial muscle to move. Just as brain sends a signal to get a human muscle moving in our arms, the artificial muscle reacts to electrical signals as well.
Repair as a standard mechanical repair can be done to other mechanical devices, but normally mechanical devices that undergo repair lose some of their performance and quality. This is not the case with the ionic conductor technology, as the artificial muscle returns to the same level of performance as before being cut.
Here is a video demonstrating this technology in action:
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References:
- A wolverine inspired material: Self-healing, transparent, highly stretchable material can be electrically activated
- A Transparent, Self-Healing, Highly Stretchable Ionic Conductor
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2016-12-25, 11:30am