Scientists at the University of Southern Mississippi think they may have developed a way for car paint to heal itself when it gets scratched. They published their research in the journal Science. All it takes for the scratch to heal is exposure to sunlight. Most cars are coated with polyurethane, but self-healing paint has 2 extra components: chitosan and oxetane rings. Chitosan is a polymer found in crab and shrimp shells. Oxetane rings are made of 3 carbon atoms and one oxygen atom. Here's how it works: The scratch damages the molecule, so the oxetane rings open. The open oxetane rings each have 2 reactive ends. When the paint is exposed to sunlight, the chitosan breaks into 2 chains and makes free radicals. The chitosan chains attach to the reactive ends of the oxetane rings. Voila! The scratch is healed! Researchers say this is a simpler and more cost efficient method than previous attempts.
http://www.sciam.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=car-coating-that-self-seals-scratch-09-03-13
Sunday, March 15, 2009
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4 comments:
This is very interesting, but doesn't seem like it would work with anything larger then a nick in the paint. If you were to really scratch the car the gap would be too wide between the paint for the molecules to get anywhere near each other, because the paint would be removed all together. And what's not there can't heal itself. But that sounds like a very cool idea, and very smart using the sun to catalyze the reaction between the two separate chemicals. But how do the chemicals know what color to be? If they form together are they forming into what the paint already is? I'd be interested to learn more about that.
Chris Perry
This is an awesome idea! But what about cars that are in places that never have high temperatures. How hot does the paint need to get, and does it need to be direct sunlight in order for the reaction to take place? Otherwise a hair dryer or something could be used. Also, what happens if your car has two different colors?
I agree with chris, this seems like it would only work for small scratches, but how many times can the car heal itself? Once the molecules bond to heal the paint, can they do it again or are they used up? Then you could only scratch your car once in every spot. I do like the idea though. It has the potential to save people with cars a lot of money.
This is really incredible the new technologies that people are coming out with. Eventually this could be a very useful in other technologies. Self-healing paint on houses during storms. Self-healing paint wall paint when little kids draw on it. There are many possibilities.
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