{"id":11903,"date":"2021-04-23T13:19:01","date_gmt":"2021-04-23T12:19:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.futurebuild.nl\/?p=11903"},"modified":"2021-04-23T13:28:35","modified_gmt":"2021-04-23T12:28:35","slug":"self-healing-materials-fact-or-science-fiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.futurebuild.nl\/en\/self-healing-materials-fact-or-science-fiction\/","title":{"rendered":"Self-healing materials \u2013 fact or science fiction?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Opinion Piece by Dr Merryn Haines-Gadd, University of Exeter<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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23 April 2021<\/h5>

Self-healing materials \u2013 fact or science fiction? <\/strong><\/h3>

A field of interest for over 20 years, self-healing materials are those with the ability to repair themselves when damaged. They can be classified into two types: extrinsic self-healing – whereby healing agents inside micro-capsules or vascular networks flood to the damaged area repairing it, and intrinsic self-healing \u2013 whereby healing is an inherent functionality of the material, typically triggered by heat, light or pressure.
Developed as both coatings and bulk materials, healing has been explored within concrete, asphalt, glass, ceramics, polymers and composites. While they often drum up a great deal of excitement and intrigue when discussed, they are still a technology that has yet to fully transition from lab based innovation, into mass commercial application.
With global complex challenges such as climate change and sustainable development, focus is being placed on topics such as \u2018resilience\u2019 and \u2018longevity\u2019, opening up many opportunities for material innovation within these spaces. Moreover, considering that lifetime extension is key principle for maximising the value of products and materials within Circular Economy systems, perhaps now is the time for this shift to finally occur.
However, as Carolyn Roberts and Julie Hill offer in 2015 within Environmental Scientist: New Materials and the Circular Economy, the development of novel materials \u2018is part of a radical shift in society\u2019s use of chemistry, the implications of which are only starting to be investigated by environmental scientists.\u2019 So, while new materials might offer exciting and enhanced functionality such as improved durability, integrity and reparability, it is vital that their circular economy and sustainability implications be anticipated as well.
This topic was central to research carried out at the Exeter Centre for Circular Economy (ECCE) as part of the EPSRC consortium \u2018Manufacturing Immortality\u2019. A research collaboration between seven UK universities: University of Bristol, University of Exeter, Heriot-Watt, Lancaster University, The University of Manchester, Northumbria University and Sheffield Hallam University, as a group we sought to not only developed new compositions of synthetic and bio-hybrid self-healing materials, but also investigate the manufacturing and sustainability effects of putting these into products as well.
At Exeter, through theoretical exploration and practice-based industrial collaboration, we examined the key benefits, opportunities and environmental challenges that these materials offer. Below is a summary of thoughts and findings from us.<\/p>

Benefits they could offer:<\/strong><\/p>