Research teams develop rolling microcapsules to repair micro-sized defects in surfaces
Tuesday, January 10, 2012 - 10:30
in Physics & Chemistry
(PhysOrg.com) -- Imagine if instead of relying on special x-ray or electrical current testing technology to find really tiny cracks in the skin that covers an airplane, microcapsules filled with easily detected materials could be rolled around on their surface, stopping here and there to fill such cracks automatically so that they could then be easily found using a simple black light. That day may be coming soon, thanks to a joint effort between two teams. One, from the University of Pittsburgh, led by Anna Balazs, the other from the University of Massachusetts, led by Todd Emrick. Together they have created just such a type of capsule, as will be described in their paper to be published in Nature Nanotechnology.