Weird ‘Terminator’ polymer can heal itself in just two hours

Researchers at a Spanish research centre have come up with a breakthrough new material that they've dubbed a 'terminator' polymer, due to its ability to self-heal.

The research team had something similar, but not quite, last year, when they came up with a polymer that could heal itself, but apparently it needed expensive silver nanoparticles to do it, and the severed halves needed constant pressure pushing them together. In this case, the 'terminator' polymer is made from a material that can very easily form new molecular bonds, so it only needs to be squeezed together to start it off, and then a bit of time to sit at room temperature to complete the healing process all by itself.

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The next stage of the research, according to Chemistry World, is to develop this into a harder material, since, as the video shows, it's quiet soft. In a harder form, it could be used to make self-healing plastic for use in everything from cars to electronics to medical prosthetics.

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