Sometimes, a tiny crack is all it takes to cause severe damage to an object. It’s these tiny cracks that we don’t see because they’re often impossible to spot in, for example, your car’s windscreen. However, these cracks become the first weaknesses in any object and could potentially lead to something really bad somewhere down the road.
Well, a University of Illinois research has led to a polymer coating that could be an important early damage warning system, making it easier to find cracks or damage in particular objects by making them bleed.
This polymer coating consists of tiny micro beads that crack open, causing a chemical reaction that will visibly highlight any damage with colour. These beads are pH sensitive so any damage will cause a colour change — from yellow to red — without the need for additional chemicals. The bigger the crack or scratch, the deeper the object will bleed as more capsules are affected.
What’s good about this coating is that it works on multiple kinds of polymers that can coat metals, other polymers and even glass. Plus, they’re apparently not too expensive either, but no specific quote of a price was given. What’s more, the coating shows no sign of degradation — meaning the microcapsules will stay intact until actual cracks or damage happens.
The application possibilities of this technology are endless. Since only 5% of a polymer needs to be microcapsules to have a strong damage indication ability, you can apply it to a myriad of things. While this can prove useful to big projects like rocket launches into space as well as deep sea exploration, there are also plenty of everyday products that can benefit.
Off the top of my head would be your action cam/smartphone’s waterproof casing. Those things are transparent so it’s incredible difficult to find small cracks in their seal, but all it takes is a little nick to let the water in and damage your precious device. Planes and vehicles stand to benefit from this polymer too, as important components in these machines can be coated to allow for early damage detection which could potentially save lives. It’s kind of nice to think that your car could bleed for you before you have to bleed yourself.
