2017.04.06
Scientists have invented a smartphone-screen material designed to repair its own scratches
If you drop your phone and the screen shatters, you usually have two options: Get it repaired or replace the phone entirely.
Chemists at the University of California at Riverside have invented what could become a third option: a phone screen material that can heal itself.
The researchers conducted several tests on the material, including its ability to repair itself from cuts and scratches. After they tore the material in half, it automatically stitched itself back together in under 24 hours, Chao Wang, a chemist leading the self-healing material research, tells Business Insider.
The material, which can stretch to 50 times its original size, is made of a stretchable polymer and an ionic salt. It features a special type of bond called an ion-dipole interaction, which is a force between charged ions and polar molecules. This means that when the material breaks or has a scratch, the ions and molecules attract to each other to heal the material.
This is the first time scientists have created a self-healing material that can conduct electricity, making it especially useful for use for cellphone screens and batteries, Wang says.
