Soon Your Cracked Smartphone Screen Will Be Able To Repair Itself
Self-healing technology originally developed for aircraft wings could be used in smartphones to enable them to repair themselves if the screen gets cracked.
As well as broken smartphone displays, the innovation could be used to repair numerous other objects such as car windshields, paint and bikes helmets while L’Oreal is already in talks to use a variation of the technology to produce self-healing nail varnish.
Developed by a team at the University of Bristol, the technology has taken three years to perfect with team leader Professor Duncan Wass telling the Independent On Sunday that the technology will available to consumers in the ‘very near future’.
“We’re definitely getting to the stage where in the next five or 10 years we’re going to see things like mobile phone screens that can heal themselves if they crack,” he told The Independent.
Made from a concoction of different carbon-based chemicals, the new substance contains tiny ‘microspheres’. When these are broken, a liquid is released, moving into the newly formed gaps. A chemical reaction causes the substance to harden, effectively filling and fixing any cracks.
The researchers took inspiration from the human body and the way it heals itself.
The technology could potentially save smartphone users money on screen repairs and gadget insurance.
(Image credit: TheJournal.ie)
