A team of Stanford chemists and engineers has created the
first synthetic material that is both sensitive to touch and capable of healing
itself quickly and repeatedly at room temperature. The advance could lead to
smarter prosthetics or more resilient personal electronics that repair
themselves.
Nobody knows the remarkable properties of human skin like
the researchers struggling to emulate it. Not only is our skin sensitive,
sending the brain precise information about pressure and temperature, but it
also heals efficiently to preserve a protective barrier against the world.
Combining these two features in a single synthetic material presented an
exciting challenge for Stanford Chemical Engineering Professor Zhenan Bao and
her team.