A self-repairing mobile phone screen was created by scientists, paving the way for the end of costly repairs.
Britons spend hundreds of millions of pounds every year repairing damage to fragile mobile phone screens.
Technological innovations from South Korean researchers could stop these charges with “self-healing” screens loaded with linseed oil that are able to fix cracks on their own in a matter of minutes.
Shower oil is usually used to treat cricket bats but scientists led by Dr Yong-Chae Jung have filled microcapsules with the material that can be mixed into the polymer used for screens smartphones.
When the screen breaks the inner capsules also crack and release oil into the damaged glass which eventually hardens into a viscous solid “healing” the screen.
The team at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology wrote in the scientific publication Composites Part B: Engineering that “simple self-healing behavior of polymers… is highly desirable for industrial applications.”
Scientists have been able to develop a “colorless, self-healing substance” capable of resolving the “physical and longevity properties” of a damaged surface.
The innovation could be useful if rolled out for today’s smartphones, with the new self-contained oil solution capable of hardening in room temperature conditions without the need for expensive intervention. from experts.
This process can also be triggered if the phone is exposed to higher temperatures, and with the help of UV light can harden in just 20 minutes.
Scientists have claimed in their peer-reviewed paper that web capsules repair cracks in 91% of cases.
The efficiency of the process can be used “ultimately in external applications” for technology that uses colorless polyimide (CPI) phone screen material.
CPI repair could be profitable in repairing artificial skin used for medical purposes, and for making and maintaining more durable solar panels.
The new research has made use of a relatively low-yielding essential oil, which is extracted by the flax plant. The polymer-forming oil has traditionally been used for surface treatment of wood, including salad bowls, gun stock, guitar, pool cushions, and cricket bats.