Hamburg, Germany – Auto Dents a Thing of the Past When Your Car Heals Itself

Hamburg, Germany – Cars may one day be able to “heal” their own dents and scratches and look just as good as new, according to a team of German scientists.

The German researchers have been working on creating synthetic surfaces capable of “healing” themselves similar to how skin rejuvenates itself after an injury. By creating an electroplated layer that encompasses tiny fluid filled pockets, the new material has the property of releasing the liquid within the pockets after a scratch.

This liquid in turn fills in the scratch to repair the surface back to new. The idea is to introduce evenly distributed fluid-filled capsules into the electroplated layer – rather like raisins in a cake. If the layer is damaged, the pellets at the point of damage burst, the fluid runs out and “repairs” the scratch.

German Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA in Stuttgart, together with colleagues from Duisburg-Essen University, have developed a process for producing electroplated layers with nano-capsules in a project being financed by the Volkswagen Foundation.
At only a few hundred nanometres in diameter, the capsules are measured on another scale entirely, compared with previous results.

“The challenge lies in not damaging the capsules when producing the electroplated layer,” says Dr Martin Metzner, department head at IPA. “The smaller the capsules, the thinner and more sensitive their casing.

The electrolytes used for these electroplated-technical processes are extremely aggressive chemically and can easily destroy the capsules,” he explains.

The researchers have produced the first copper, nickel and zinc coatings with the new capsules, although surface coverage does not extend beyond the centimetre scale. Experts estimate that it will be another one and a half to two years before whole components can be coated.