New Take on Self-Healing Polymer Could Mean Scratch-Free Screens

techprophet writes to mention that a new take on self-healing plastic could provide a long-term solution to scratched screens. The new polymer, developed by scientists at the University of Southern Mississippi, uses UV light to reform bonds between molecules rather than embedded healing agents of similar systems. "At the core of their design is polyurethane, which is an elastic polymer that already has decent scratch resistance. To enhance its ability to withstand mechanical damage, Ghosh and Urban added two more components, OXE and CHI. OXE has an unstable chemical structure (a four-membered ring containing three carbons and one oxygen) that makes it prone to being split open. CHI is UV sensitive. The idea is that, if the polyurethane gets damaged by a scratch, the unstable ring structure of OXE will open to create two reactive ends. Then, UV light can trigger CHI to form new links with the reactive ends of OXE and thereby fix the break in the polymer."

Comments

Re:How big of a scratch?

[gurps_npc]

Sorry, slashdot did not display the proper character. that is 9.5 micrometers (I tried to use Ansi character 181 in front of the m, the scientific notation for micrometers.) For further clarification, a human red blood cell is about 7 mirometers.

Good publicity for my alma mater --

[Cutting_Crew]

i also submitted this story this morning so since this made it i guess mine will be scrapped. because of this i can also give you a few links. This is great technology no doubt.

USM Main Website

Scientific American had a hit on this.

School of Polymers and High Performance Materials Link

Marek W. Urban is the principle chemist and researcher for the project and was the co-author of the findings and its current research publication in the journal Science.

Video of an actual test after scratching a surface.

Sorry if i am a little excited but its nice to be personally linked to a university that is about 15 minutes from where you live.

Re:"can trigger"

[haystor]

The people that touch monitor screens with their fingers are obviously in league with the terrorists.