Biomimetic Self-Healing

Abstract

Self-healing is a natural process common to all living organisms which provides increased longevity and the ability to adapt to changes in the environment. Inspired by this fitness-enhancing functionality, which was tuned by billions of years of evolution, scientists and engineers have been incorporating self-healing capabilities into synthetic materials. By mimicking mechanically triggered chemistry as well as the storage and delivery of liquid reagents, new materials have been developed with extended longevity that are capable of restoring mechanical integrity and additional functions after being damaged. This Review describes the fundamental steps in this new field of science, which combines chemistry, physics, materials science, and mechanical engineering.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 21, 2015
Accession Number
AD1000013

Entities

People

  • Charles E Diesendruck
  • Jeffrey S. Moore
  • Nancy Sottos
  • Scott R. White

Organizations

  • University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Biomedical And Dental Materials
  • Cardiovascular System
  • Cells
  • Chemical Synthesis
  • Chemistry
  • Material Degradation Processes
  • Materials Processing
  • Materials Science
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Organic Chemistry
  • Resins
  • Synthetic Healing

Readers

  • Analytical Chemistry
  • Distributed Systems and Data Platform Development
  • Reinforced Composite Materials

Technology Areas

  • Biotechnology