Illinois researchers develop material that actually regenerates

We do know that the LG G Flex smartphone does come with a kind of self-healing cover, but that material has not really made an appearance anywhere else. Well, fret not, as in a laboratory located in the University of Illinois, a smooth sheet of plastic will not only heal itself, but it goes one up by regenerating. Yes, you read that right – regenerate. The particularly restorative characteristic of this material made possible by the delivery of two isolated fluid streams as seen above which were dyed red and blue, where the liquid would fet together and harden afterwards.

Looking at a smooth sheet of plastic in one University of Illinois laboratory, no one would guess that an impact had recently blasted a hole through it. Illinois researchers have developed materials that not only heal, but regenerate. Until now, self-repairing materials could only bond tiny microscopic cracks. The new regenerating materials fill in large cracks and holes by regrowing material. Led by professor Scott White, the research team comprises professors Jeffry S. Moore and Nancy Sottos and graduate students Brett Krull, Windy Santa Cruz and Ryan Gergely. They report their work in the May 9 issue of the journal Science. “We have demonstrated repair of a nonliving, synthetic materials system in a way that is reminiscent of repair-by-regrowth as seen in some living systems,” said Moore, a professor of chemistry.