An accordion-shaped nanomaterial is the key ingredient in a sticky, self-healing gel that might one day drive help people with paralysis to communicate
Daily news
15 June 2018
Nano-infused black goo is incredibly stretchy and self-repairs
Having a stretch2018 KAUSTBy Frank SwainSilly putty just got smart, in the form of a viscous black gel that can stretch, self-repair and detect facial expressions.
A team led by Yizhou Zhang at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia and his colleagues added a type of graphene-like material called an MXene to another material called a hydrogel, which is a mix of water and a polymer.
The resulting putty was able to stretch to 35 times its original length. The material can also be easily reshaped, and if separated can be …
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