Engineers' dream of self-repairing surfaces has progressed another step towards reality - researchers have created a metallic coating layer containing tiny nanometer capsules. If the layer is damaged, the capsules release a liquid that repairs the scratch
Engineers' dream of self-repairing surfaces has progressed another step towards reality - researchers have created a metallic coating layer containing tiny nanometer capsules. If the layer is damaged, the capsules release a liquid that repairs the scratch.
The human skin is an example of fascinating behavior - small scratches and cuts heal quickly without leaving scars or other marks after only a few days. Things are completely different in all that has been said regarding materials, such as metals - if the coating layer designed to protect the metals against fusion is scratched, then the protection against rust is lost. Engineers are working to imitate and transfer this self-repairing ability from the skin to the field of materials. The basic idea in this research area is to insert liquid-containing capsules that are spread evenly and uniformly into the coating layer - similar to raisins inside a cake. If the layer is damaged, the capsules at the points of impact burst and then a liquid is released that "repairs" the scratch.
To date, these ideas have failed due to the size of the capsules - measuring ten to fifteen micrometers, they were too large for the coating layer, which is about twenty micrometers in size. As a result, the capsules changed the mechanical properties of the layer.
Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing, Engineering and Mechanization in Stuttgart, Germany, together with their colleagues from the University of Duisburg-Essen, have developed a process for preparing coating layers containing nanocapsules. These capsules are on a completely different scale than those prepared in the past - only hundreds of nanometers. "The challenge lies in the need for the capsules not to be damaged when creating the coating layer," says Dr. Martin Metzner, one of the researchers. "The smaller the capsules, the thinner and more sensitive their shell. The electrolytes (substances that become electrically conductive after being separated into ions in the solution) used in these coating processes are very chemically active and can easily destroy the capsules." Therefore, the researchers were required to find a suitable material for the capsule shell depending on the electrolytes in use.
Mechanical bearings are one of the examples of possible applications - the materials the bearings are made of are usually coated with a metallic protective layer into which the capsules can be inserted. If there is a temporary lack of lubricants, part of the bearing coating is lost, the capsules at the end of the layer burst and release additional lubricant. So the bearing is not damaged if it loses part of its coating only temporarily.
The researchers were able to prepare the first coatings of this type containing the state-of-the-art capsules for copper, nickel and zinc, although the layered coverage is limited to the centimeter level only. Experts in the field estimate that it will take about two years until it will be possible to observe the entire area of the component. The team is also working on the idea of more complex systems - in which there are capsules containing different liquids that react with each other to create a chemically active substance (epoxy glues, as one example).
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I have no idea of an important application for this core, the tip of the device itself and standing under high load for the sample will be super effective since it will be possible to dig fairly deep pits through granite layers without the need to replace a head that costs a million dollars every few hundred meters. There's also the idea of the jet excavator that doesn't know if it's going to explode, you should check the wiki
I don't think that a simple mechanism of balls will be effective enough for repairs. And you also have to somehow renew the layer of corrective pellets all the time. Nano-robots sounds like a good idea, it's just a shame there aren't any.
It will be possible to use nano robots to repair and clean.