Home > Press > New Nanotech Technique for Lower-Cost Materials Repair
![]() |
Todd Emrick, UMass Amherst
A recent materials repair discovery validates prior theory and may lead to significant conservation of material in diagnosing and repairing structural damage. The cartoon illustrates how nanoparticle-containing capsules roll or glide over damaged substrates, selectively depositing their nanoparticle contents into fractures. |
Abstract:
In the super-small world of nanostructures, a team of polymer scientists and engineers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have discovered how to make nano-scale repairs to a damaged surface equivalent to spot-filling a scratched car fender rather than re-surfacing the entire part. The work builds on a theoretical prediction by chemical engineer and co-author Anna Balazs at the University of Pittsburgh.
Their discovery is reported this week in the current issue of Nature Nanotechnology. The new technique has many practical implications, especially that repairing a damaged surface with this method would require significantly smaller amounts of material, avoiding the need to coat entire surfaces when only a tiny fraction is cracked, says team leader and UMass Amherst polymer scientist Todd Emrick.
"This is particularly important because even small fractures can then lead to structural failure but our technique provides a strong and effective repair. The need for rapid, efficient coating and repair mechanisms is pervasive today in everything from airplane wings to microelectronic materials to biological implant devices," he adds.
At nano-scale, damaged areas typically possess characteristics quite distinct from their undamaged surrounding surface, including different topography, wetting characteristics, roughness and even chemical functionality, Emrick explains. He adds, "Anna Balazs predicted, using computer simulation, that if nanoparticles were held in a certain type of microcapsule, they would probe a surface and release nanoparticles into certain specific regions of that surface," effectively allowing a spot-repair.
This vision of capsules probing and releasing their contents in a smart, triggered fashion, known as "repair-and-go," is characteristic of biological process, such as in white blood cells, Emrick adds.
He says the experimental work to support the concept required insight into the chemistry, physics and mechanical aspects of materials encapsulation and controlled release, and was achieved by collaboration among three polymer materials laboratories at UMass Amherst, led by Alfred Crosby, Thomas Russell and himself.
The researchers show how using a polymer surfactant stabilizes oil droplets in water (in emulsion droplets or capsules), encapsulating nanoparticles efficiently, but in a manner where they can be released when desired, since the capsule wall is very thin.
"We then found that the nanoparticle-containing capsules roll or glide over damaged substrates, and very selectively deposit their nanoparticle contents into the damaged (cracked) regions. Because the nanoparticles we use are fluorescent, their localization in the cracked regions is clearly evident, as is the selectivity of their localization."
Using rapid and selective deposition of sensor material in damaged regions, their innovative work also provides a precise method for detecting damaged substrates, he stresses. Finally, the new encapsulation techniques allow delivery of hydrophobic objects in a water-based system, further precluding the need for organic solvents in industrial processes that are dis-advantageous from an environmental standpoint.
Emrick says, "Having realized the concept experimentally, looking forward we now hope to demonstrate recovery of mechanical properties of coated objects by adjusting the composition of the nanoparticles being delivered."
The work was supported by the National Science Foundations' (NSF) Materials Research Science and Engineering Center on Polymers at UMass Amherst, an NSF Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) award, the NSF Center for Hierarchical Manufacturing, the U.S. Department of Energy and its Office of Basic Energy Science.
####
For more information, please click here
Contacts:
Todd Emrick
413/577-1613
Copyright © Newswise
If you have a comment, please Contact us.Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.
Related News Press |
News and information
Onion-like nanoparticles found in aircraft exhaust May 14th, 2025
Programmable electron-induced color router array May 14th, 2025
Govt.-Legislation/Regulation/Funding/Policy
Rice researchers harness gravity to create low-cost device for rapid cell analysis February 28th, 2025
Quantum engineers ‘squeeze’ laser frequency combs to make more sensitive gas sensors January 17th, 2025
Chainmail-like material could be the future of armor: First 2D mechanically interlocked polymer exhibits exceptional flexibility and strength January 17th, 2025
Nanomedicine
Tumor microenvironment dynamics: the regulatory influence of long non-coding RNAs April 25th, 2025
Next-generation drug delivery innovation! DGIST develops precision therapeutics using exosomes April 25th, 2025
Multiphoton polymerization: A promising technology for precision medicine February 28th, 2025
Rice researchers harness gravity to create low-cost device for rapid cell analysis February 28th, 2025
Sensors
Quantum engineers ‘squeeze’ laser frequency combs to make more sensitive gas sensors January 17th, 2025
Nanotechnology: Flexible biosensors with modular design November 8th, 2024
Discoveries
Onion-like nanoparticles found in aircraft exhaust May 14th, 2025
Programmable electron-induced color router array May 14th, 2025
Ultrafast plasmon-enhanced magnetic bit switching at the nanoscale April 25th, 2025
Materials/Metamaterials/Magnetoresistance
Enhancing power factor of p- and n-type single-walled carbon nanotubes April 25th, 2025
Chainmail-like material could be the future of armor: First 2D mechanically interlocked polymer exhibits exceptional flexibility and strength January 17th, 2025
Announcements
Onion-like nanoparticles found in aircraft exhaust May 14th, 2025
Programmable electron-induced color router array May 14th, 2025
Ultrafast plasmon-enhanced magnetic bit switching at the nanoscale April 25th, 2025
Aerospace/Space
Onion-like nanoparticles found in aircraft exhaust May 14th, 2025
Flexible electronics integrated with paper-thin structure for use in space January 17th, 2025
The National Space Society Congratulates SpaceX on Starship’s 7th Test Flight: Latest Test of the Megarocket Hoped to Demonstrate a Number of New Technologies and Systems January 17th, 2025
Research partnerships
HKU physicists uncover hidden order in the quantum world through deconfined quantum critical points April 25th, 2025
SMART researchers pioneer first-of-its-kind nanosensor for real-time iron detection in plants February 28th, 2025
Gene therapy relieves back pain, repairs damaged disc in mice: Study suggests nanocarriers loaded with DNA could replace opioids May 17th, 2024
![]() |
||
![]() |
||
The latest news from around the world, FREE | ||
![]() |
![]() |
||
Premium Products | ||
![]() |
||
Only the news you want to read!
Learn More |
||
![]() |
||
Full-service, expert consulting
Learn More |
||
![]() |