Researchers at the Viterbi School of Engineering in South Carolina have developed a self-healing 3D printed material that can be repaired by itself after being broken or shredded. It is expected to be used in the shoe industry, tire manufacturing, soft robot development and even electronic products. .
Assistant Professor Wang Qiming and students at the University of Southern California Viterbi School of Engineering began to use a manufacturing method called photopolymerization, which specifically uses light to harden specific liquid resin materials. Applied to 3D printed objects, it can achieve self-healing. The team must find the best mixture and ratio when oxidizing chemical groups, so as to maintain the original strength and function after self-healing.
"When we gradually increase the oxidant, the self-healing behavior becomes stronger, but the photopolymerization behavior becomes weaker," Wang said. "There is competition between these two behaviors. Eventually we found that this ratio can achieve a high degree of self-healing and relatively fast photopolymerization."
The team tested its method by printing a series of objects (including insoles, soft robots, multiphase composite materials, and electronic sensors), then cut them in half. After about 2 hours at 60 ° C (140 ° F), most objects are completely self-healing. Due to the presence of conductive carbon, the self-repair of electronic sensors takes twice as long.
Researchers said that by increasing the temperature can shorten the repair time.
"In fact, at different temperatures-from 40 degrees Celsius to 60 degrees Celsius-the material can almost heal to 100%," commented Kunhao Yu, the study's first author. "By changing the temperature, we can control the healing rate, even at room temperature, the material can still heal itself."
The team is now working on the development of a series of self-healing materials that can continue to produce self-healing auto parts or body armor.
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