Self-healing glass: a cracking discovery from Japan
Self-healing glass: a cracking discovery from Japan
By Hiroshi HIYAMA AFP•December 27, 2017
A Japanese researcher has developed -- by accident-- a
new type of glass that can be repaired simply by pressing it back together
after it cracks.
The discovery opens the way for super-durable glass that
could triple the lifespan of everyday products like car windows, construction
materials, fish tanks and even toilet seats.
Yu Yanagisawa, a chemistry researcher at the University
of Tokyo, made the breakthrough by chance while investigating adhesives that
can be used on wet surfaces.
Does this mean you will soon be able to repair those
cracks in your smartphone with a quick press of the fingers? Or surreptitiously
piece together a shattered beer glass dropped after one pint too many?
Well, not quite. Not now and in fact, not in the near
future.
But it does open a window of opportunity for researchers
to explore ways to make more durable, lightweight, glass-like items, like car
windows.
In a lab demonstration for AFP, Yanagisawa broke a glass
sample into two pieces.
He then held the cross sections of the two pieces
together for about 30 seconds until the glass repaired itself, almost
resembling its original form.
To demonstrate its strength, he then hung a nearly full
bottle of water from the piece of glass -- and it stayed intact.
The organic glass, made of a substance called polyether
thioureas, is closer to acrylic than mineral glass, which is used for tableware
and smartphone screens.
Other scientists have demonstrated similar properties by
using rubber or gel materials but Yanagisawa was the first to demonstrate the
self-healing concept with glass.
The secret lies in the thiourea, which uses hydrogen
bonding to make the edges of the shattered glass self-adhesive, according to
Yanagisawa's study.
But what use is all this if it cannot produce a
self-healing smartphone screen?
"It is not realistically about fixing what is
broken, more about making longer-lasting resin glass," Yanagisawa told
AFP.
Glass products can fracture after years of use due to
physical stress and fatigue.
"When a material breaks, it has already had many tiny
scars that have accumulated to result in major destruction," Yanagisawa
said.
"What this study showed was a path toward making a
safe and long-lasting resin glass", which is used in a wide range of
everyday items.
"We may be able to double or triple the lifespan of
something that currently lasts for 10 or 20 years", he said.
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