Self-Healing Textile Discovered By Scientists
Self-Healing Textile Discovered – Scientists have discovered a new kind of textile that has a “self-healing” property like nothing like before by just adding water.
Researchers from Penn State used a liquefied squid teeth protein on cotton, coat wool, and other fabrics. Once the fabric is torn, it can be brought back together by just adding warm water that will allow the fabric to “heal” itself.
“We were looking for a way to make fabrics self-healing using conventional textiles. So we came up with this coating technology,” said Penn State Professor Melik C. Demirel as quoted in Penn State’s website.
According to him, the “healing” proteins can be applied to different threads before materials created or used to fix common non-coated fabrics by just adding some water.
Even though the said technology seems unbelievable, the result will still have noticeable repair marks just like in patches in clothes, but, small tears from the clothing can be repaired by just washing it again.
With the discovered technology, researchers are not just looking on the application to consumer technology, but also in creating clothes that protects soldiers and industrial workers.
Also, Demeril added that this discovery could help improve the protective clothing worn by farmers and medical practitioners. It could also extend the life-span of clothes resulting to a minimized discarded clothing.
According to Inquirer, the team is planning to make “healing proteins” without the use of squid teeth and to test the “healed” fabrics for durability.
Demeril ensured that the coating is thin, it would still be a big help once manufactured.
“The coatings are thin, less than a micron, so they wouldn’t be noticed in everyday wear. Even thin, they increase the overall strength of the material,” Demeril said.
Watch the demonstration video now (NEXT PAGE).
