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News Science

Smart Rubber Promises Self-Mending Products 122

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the we've-heard-it-all-before dept.
An anonymous reader writes "French scientists have developed a new rubber that can heal itself after being cut or broken. If two broken ends of the material are pushed together, and left for an hour, they join to become just as stretchy as before. There is even a video of the supposed creation in action. 'Regular rubber gets its strength from the fact that long chains of polymer molecules are coupled, or "crosslinked," in three different ways: through covalent, ionic, and hydrogen bonding between molecules. Of these three bond types, only the hydrogen bonds can be remade once a material is fractured, although normally there are not enough hydrogen bonds for the rubber to re-couple in this way. The solution devised by Leibler and colleagues is to simply get rid of the ionic and covalent bonds. They developed a transparent, yellowy-brown rubber in which crosslinking is performed only by hydrogen bonds.'"
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Smart Rubber Promises Self-Mending Products More

Smart Rubber Promises Self-Mending Products

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  • Odd (Score:5, Interesting)

    by geek ( 5680 ) on Wednesday February 20, 2008 @07:33PM (#22495956)
    Wouldn't removing the other two types of bonds make it naturally more likely to break to begin with? My chem background isnt great, maybe someone could break it down for me.

    • Re:Odd (Score:5, Insightful)

      by NoData ( 9132 ) <<moc.oohay> <ta> <_ataDoN_>> on Wednesday February 20, 2008 @07:35PM (#22495990)
      Yes.

      The article mentions that this rubber is weaker than most to begin with for just that reason.

    • Not necessarily (Score:4, Insightful)

      by EmbeddedJanitor ( 597831 ) on Wednesday February 20, 2008 @07:39PM (#22496036)
      A diamond only has C bonds.

      It isn't just the number of bonds but the strength of those bonds.

      • Yes necessarily (Score:3, Informative)

        by NoData ( 9132 )
        Carbon-carbon bonds are highly covalent and exceptionally strong. Ionic bonds are weaker and hydrogen bonds are weaker still. So, yes, necessarily this rubber is weaker. It's not the fact that it has less variety of bonding, it's the fact the sort of bonding it's left with is weak (comparatively).

        • Re:Yes necessarily (Score:4, Informative)

          by blair1q ( 305137 ) on Wednesday February 20, 2008 @08:40PM (#22496684) Journal
          No primordial soup for you.

          In general, ionic bonds (i.e., bonds with high ionic character) are stronger than covalent bonds (i.e., bonds with low or no ionic character), simply because they are in fact the same thing, except that a difference in electron affinity causes a dipole moment to be generated, which adds electrical potential to quantum potential of the bond.

          The larger the difference in electronegativity (or electron affinity, however you want to measure it), and the shorter the internuclear distance, the stronger the ionic force of the bond.

          It just so happens that the quantum effect in a carbon-carbon bond is pretty strong in the first place, so there aren't many bonds, even those high in ionic character, that are stronger (although N-N is nearly twice as strong, iirc)

          Putting ions in a position to have to share their ionic attraction among more atoms than they have valence electrons weakens their bonds, so there aren't many ionic substances that have nearly as strong a structure in crystal lattices.

          The strength of diamong is due to the fact that (1) C-C is a fairly strong bond and (2) of the valence-4 atoms, which allow for the least disruptive crystal structure, C-C has the strongest bonds. It's that combination of no bending and strong bonds that makes diamond hard. Though there are far harder substances.

          This being chemistry, someone will of course find counterexamples. It's pretty amazing how so few rules for atoms can produce so many intricate variations in behavior once you get atoms close together.
          • Hmm... NaCl dissolves in water. Despite your claim that ionic bonds are stronger than covalent bonds. Wouldn't this lead to a few problem with, ah, er, rubber? Reaction of a very old chemist, who barely remembers what rubber is good for...

            • Re: (Score:1)

              by tepples ( 727027 )

              NaCl dissolves in water.
              Water is a polar solvent, causing a dissociation NaCl -> Na+ + Cl-.

              Despite your claim that ionic bonds are stronger than covalent bonds.
              "Strong bond" does not mean "inert bond".
      • I think the remark was more about the fact that hydrogen bonds are weaker than the other types mentioned.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by quanminoan ( 812306 )
      From TFA:

      The downside is that getting rid of covalent and ionic bonding means the material is weaker than regular rubber.

      Regular polymers can be made very strong from covalent bonds (polycarbonates, polysulfones). Making a very strong polymer requires quite a lot of covalent bonds, and creates a very strong material that lacks tensile strength. The problem with almost all polymers in engineering applications is two things: creep and degradation. The "creep" part is when the polymer chains, loaded with s

      • The downside is that getting rid of covalent and ionic bonding means the material is weaker than regular rubber.

        So how is this stuff different from Silly Putty?

        • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

          by Anonymous Coward
          If I understand the article correctly, this substance is actually quite sensible!

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by nusuth ( 520833 )
        The "creep" part is when the polymer chains, loaded with some force, start to slip and rearrange themselves. This has to be taken into account in many applications, unless you're designing commodity applications such as trash bags, etc. ... This material lacks these susceptible bonds creating a material that is much weaker, but also much more reliable in the long run.

        I don't see why this material will not be susceptible to creep. Creep is not a consequence of existence polymer chains. Quite the contrary,

        • I didn't mean to say this wouldn't be susceptible to creep - all polymers are to one degree or another susceptible to creep. You're right that in this case creep should be more pronounced. The degradation, of course, I would expect to be far less....
    • The 'self-healing' rubber will not as strong as regular rubber, due to the fact, as you pointed out, that they are removing the ionic and covalent bonding between the molecules. The summary of this article is very bad though... It makes it out that they have removed all covalent and ionic bonding although that can not be the case, because that is what makes up a molecule and distinguishes it from other materials. The must have made the rubber in such a way that the molecules do not bond together making p
    • It appears to be vulcanizing rubber. I have a roll that I nicked from my father in my toolbox. He bought the roll sometime in the '90s. There appears to be nothing new about this.

      (Sorry for replying to the first post. Difficult to call bullshit if one isn't heard though.)

  • Finally Recycling For The Common Man (Score:5, Funny)

    by milsoRgen ( 1016505 ) on Wednesday February 20, 2008 @07:33PM (#22495964) Homepage
    I can finally join the green revolution by reusing all those busted condoms from my over zealous love making sessions.
  • I can't wait an hour when my rubber breaks :(
    • Buy a pack of six and rotate my man!

      • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

        by gnick ( 1211984 )

        Buy a pack of six and rotate my man!
        I think it may spoil the mood when you tell your partner, "Hold on, baby, I just need to get something out of my used-condom drawer."
        • Whoa there Mr. Upperclass, I don't think any of us /.er's would use a drawer. The floor around the bed would work just fine...

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by gnick ( 1211984 )
            Wow - you just topped me and solved the problem preemptively. By strategically placing your used rubbers on the floor around the bed, you make sure that you're never stuck in a situation in which you may sleep with the kind of woman that would object to used rubbers. Pure genius.

            • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

              by st1d ( 218383 )
              Amateurs! Just stick 'em to the wall or headboard when you're done. Then you don't even need to break the mood while you grab one. And nothing turns a woman on more than a row of used condoms flapping against her face during the act. Especially the ones that have been used enough that there's a distinct "thump" from dried remnants of past occasions. Nothing says you care about your lovers more than having them labeled and arranged in alphabetical order by name, either.

              Of course, this is Slashdot, so ma
    • "I can't wait an hour when my rubber breaks :("

      why not? You're on /., you're not having sex with anyone anyway.
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • I fear a race of rubber killing machines, impervious to all our military resources due to their T-1000-like ability to split and remeld.
      I am going to discount the welcome to our new reformable rubber overlords jokes and remind you of a movie called THE BLOB [franksreelreviews.com]
    • Yeah. They might not seem dangerous as of yet, but they are a very good argument against standardizing on an 0.016 RPM firing rate in the future.

  • WhatEVER (Score:3, Funny)

    by TobyRush ( 957946 ) on Wednesday February 20, 2008 @07:36PM (#22496008) Homepage
    Yeah, and Smart Rubber also promised it'd return my Criminal Minds Season 2 DVDs and stop eating all the Grape Nuts. And we know how well THAT panned out...

  • It's The Shit (Score:5, Funny)

    by nick_davison ( 217681 ) on Wednesday February 20, 2008 @07:37PM (#22496016)

    The material is synthesised from fatty acids and urea.
    And if this isn't an argument why adding fiber to your diet is important, nothing'll convince you.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by TWX ( 665546 )
      Sounds like a good thing if you want to bounce back from illness or injury...

  • I'm skeptical, yet hopeful... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Will the Chill ( 78436 ) on Wednesday February 20, 2008 @07:37PM (#22496026) Homepage
    because if you watch the video they double the speed of the post-healing stretch, and it's still _really_ slow. With only the video to go on, it seems like this could just as easily be some silly putty or elmers glue + liquid starch.

    Of course, if it's true that you can create self-healing rubber by removing the ionic and covalent bonds, leaving only the hydrogen bonds, my next question is obvious:

    How many times can this material "heal" itself before suffering internal structure deficiencies?

    If it could mend itself an infinite number of times and retain perfect structural integrity, that would truly be a modern miracle of science with untold practical applications.

    Can you say self-mending tires, shoe soles, etc?

    -WtC

    *sig inserted by hand to frustrate sig purists*

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by evanbd ( 210358 )

      My guess would be "lots" since the H bonds don't "wear out". Normal polymers wear out by occasionally having covalent bonds break, which then don't repair.

      On the flip side, this probably exhibits "cold flow" -- if you put it under tension, it will slowly and permanently deform. Over short time spans, it will be elastic, over long spans it will deform. For many applications that won't matter, but for some it will make it completely unusable.

      • My guess would be "lots" since the H bonds don't "wear out".
        The H-bonds don't wear out, but surfaces tend to get dusty, ever so slightly. So each time it tears, small particles of dust (or droplets of white liquid, hehe...) deposit on the fresh cut, and get "incorporated" into the rubber as it mends itself. The more this happens, the weaker the rubber gets.
    • Maybe I am missing something, but even as it is it seems potentially useful for self-healing bicycle inner tubes. For example, perhaps you could use a layer of this h-bond rubber in conjunction with an only covalently-bonded rubber layer in some mesh pattern that would add some contracting force to the inner tube. Then when a sharp object does make it through the tube the cov-bonded rubber can act as a force to hold the puncture together. Maybe the "healing" reaction can be short with the application of hea

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by rhizome ( 115711 )
      Can you say self-mending tires, shoe soles, etc?

      No, but I can say, "self-mending things-that-don't-need-mending-often."

    • The material wouldn't be strong enough for those sorts of applications. The abrasion with the ground, if nothing else, would quickly wear down the material...Self healing wouldn't apply when floored the gas and left half your tire in a patch of rubber on the ground. Likewise tennis shoes...Their wear is less to do with broken bonds, and more to do with abrasion, and softer rubber would be more vulnerable to abrasion.

      Wonder what it does to it's melting point, and flammability? Seems like if you treated the r

  • Funny... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by raving griff ( 1157645 )
    ...because recently, for a school project, I needed to find some print sources of chemistry in the news. All I had on-hand was an issue of Popular Science, and it had an article on this invention. The catch? The issue was from 2001.

  • realdoll (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Millions of RealDoll owners rejoice.
  • Now, in the middle of intercourse if your condom tears, your still safe. YOUR CONDOM IS FIXING ITSELF!!!

  • Cindy will be so happy! (Score:5, Funny)

    by urcreepyneighbor ( 1171755 ) on Wednesday February 20, 2008 @07:43PM (#22496084)
    Cindy, my air-filled life companion, will be relieved to hear of this development.

    We have been plagued by punctures and tears for years. Neither of us have been satisfied with the make-do fix of duct tape and latex.

    Thank you, science!

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by somersault ( 912633 )
      You don't want to be fusing her with too much smart rubber, or she'll start noticing how you guys never seem to go out anymore, and how she never gets to go on top.

    • We have been plagued by punctures and tears for years
      You're not supposed to cry over spilt milk...

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ediron2 ( 246908 ) *
      Not so fast, commander airbag. You did see the part where you have to press the torn parts together and... and... *hold* them together for an hour?

      Yup. You'll now be expected to cuddle your companion after sex.

  • This is madness. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 20, 2008 @07:45PM (#22496112)
    This time so-called "scientific progress" has gone too far. This shameless disregard for ionic and covalent bonds is unnatural and degrading to us all. Ionic and covalent bonds play a crucial role in vital processes of nature. They are found everywhere, from humble table salt, to the very carbon rings that are the basis of all life.

    And now arrogant man sees fit to sacrifice these noble bonds for what, I ask? For a "self-healing rubber" of all things? This is a travesty. I hope all people who love and cherish our universe and the laws of nature will boycott this abominable substance.
  • Five years ago, a team of scientists working at Uranus discovered a new polyester...

  • Roads (Score:3, Interesting)

    by ewg ( 158266 ) on Wednesday February 20, 2008 @07:55PM (#22496266)
    Please tell me there's some way to incorporate this material into roadways that don't develop potholes. I'm tired of paying for them--in wear and tear on my car and in taxes.

    • Re:Roads (Score:5, Funny)

      by youthoftoday ( 975074 ) on Wednesday February 20, 2008 @08:08PM (#22496386) Homepage Journal
      There's some way to incorporate this material into roadways that don't develop potholes. You're tired of paying for them--in wear and tear on your car and in taxes.
      • I laughed out loud--I guess I haven't seen this particular smart-ass technique before.

        Do you remember New Here [slashdot.org]? A slashdot user who only posts to correct someone who makes the mistake of telling someone, "You must be new here." The reply comes every time, "No, I'm New Here."

        I wonder how hard it would be to write a bot that scanned conversations on Slashdot and posted smart-ass comebacks like the parent, or New Here's, whenever a comment matches a certain pattern.
        • Watch Airplane! or the Naked Gun movies.

          Watching those are surely like taking a class in comedy 101... ;)

          [waits for the 'And don't call me Shirley!' response]

  • What's your name, Sir? (Score:5, Funny)

    by microbee ( 682094 ) on Wednesday February 20, 2008 @07:58PM (#22496308)
    Bond, Hydrogen Bond.

  • Oy (Score:5, Funny)

    by The End Of Days ( 1243248 ) on Wednesday February 20, 2008 @08:06PM (#22496368)
    So many condom jokes, so little actual sex...
  • It takes care of parallel porking automatically!
  • I, for one, welcome our new promising, smart and self-mending rubber overlords.
  • haha. at the risk of lowering the tone they could finally do away with all those zips!

    btw. if you don't know what a gimp suit is I strongly suggest you don't do a google image search on them for the sake on yer eyeballs.

  • If you made a bag of this it would stick to itself on the inside. You would need to make a multi-layered bag with a film of some other non-self-healing substance on the inside and probably on the outside as well. That would, of course, limit the number of times it could heal because eventually the separating film would fail and your bacg would end up like a lump of silly-putty.
  • We should in no way follow their example. Conservative American radio talkshows tell me so.
  • They've had this tech in New Mexico since 1947.

  • Tires (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Equuleus42 ( 723 ) on Wednesday February 20, 2008 @09:35PM (#22497278) Homepage
    Finally, we will all have tires that are invincible! This will be especially useful for road bike tires, which get sliced up rather easily compared to automobile tires...

  • I want an engineering sample. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by iansmith ( 444117 ) on Wednesday February 20, 2008 @10:02PM (#22497472) Homepage
    You would need to put some sort of skin over this to keep it from self-reparing in ways it wasn't meant to. If you accidently fold a sheet of this stuff it would adhere to itself. And you though trying to work with plastic wrap without getting it all stuck together was hard.

    I bet it would be fun to sculpt with. Cut bits off, stick them back in in other places.. would be a really strange medium to work in.

    Or the ultimate version of those pads to stick your cell phone to your dashboard. Except now it will NEVER come off until you slice it off with a razor.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by doppe1 ( 856394 )
      You would need to put some sort of skin over this to keep it from self-reparing in ways it wasn't meant to.

      The material only self heals if it cut and and then rejoined in the same place. The hydrogen bonds are not present on the whole surface, but only exist on the newly formed surface - ready to be rejoined - for approx 18 hours. They made a nice metaphor of the hydrogen bonds being like hands that hold on to each other and when the material is cut the hands let go, but then are on the surface waving abo

    • I bet it would be fun to sculpt with. Cut bits off, stick them back in in other places.. would be a really strange medium to work in.
      You mean, almost like clay or plasticine, except you need to hold it for an hour to make it stick?
    • Fun to place some of this in a parking place and see smart wheels bond to it...
  • I saw a documentary a few years ago about this. I think Robin Williams hosted it. I'm surprised nobody is talking about the amazing anti-gravity properties it has..... Finally, no more "I want my flying car!" memes....
  • This would be a great fit for my son's bicycle tires and his bouncy balls that we keep buying him. I can't think of many other applications, but I'm sure they are out there. This looks like it has solid potential.

  • What happens when it gets wet? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Guppy ( 12314 ) on Wednesday February 20, 2008 @11:02PM (#22497982)
    I'm curious if the material material still works in wet or humid conditions. Since water forms a strong hydrogen bond, I'm wondering if having H2O present in the interface of two pieces will "cap" the polymer's bonds and slow or disrupt the self-repair.

    In addition, I'm also wondering how permeable the material is to water or water vapor, and if there is any swelling when exposed.

  • The fetishwear potential of this stuff (Score:4, Funny)

    by Ungrounded Lightning ( 62228 ) on Wednesday February 20, 2008 @11:23PM (#22498158) Journal
    ... is mind-boggling.
  • Self fusing rubber compounds are nothing new. Arlon's Silicone Technologies Division http://www.arlon-std.com/ [arlon-std.com] has been extruding self fusing (healing if you prefer) tapes http://www.arlon-std.com/Products/tape.htm [arlon-std.com] made from silicone rubber for a long time. Other companies do as well. The tapes are primarily used for electrical insulation applications. They are fully crosslinked but when brought into contact they fuse (or heal) into a homogeneous mass. EPDM varieties are available as well. These resea
  • Helecopter Pilot: Here he comes...they're tossing down the stop sticks...DIRECT HIT! No...wait...oh--that car he stole comes with self-mending tires; they'll have to find another way to take him out....
  • Looks like gummy worms to me, I coulda made them same video with those.
  • Does this mean that the T-1000 will be made of rubber, not liquid metal?
  • Umm. That video just looked like they were playing with a string of the synthetic snot that holds the advert cards inside magazines.

    I wish I could be famous for claiming to invent something that got sent to me in the mail.

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