With hundreds of thousands of people dropping their expensive smartphones each year the hassle and cost of repairing a damaged screen means many make do with the cracks, whilst others choose to go without a phone for lengthy repairs.
But many people don’t want their device to be sent away, and thankfully a new plastic has been developed which will mean the cracked screen may be a nuisance of the past.
Healing Properties
The plastic, known as a polymer, has ‘healing properties’ which enable it to slowly patch up holes 
to an inch in length.
The polymer was developed in the USA by a team of university scientists who were inspired by the human blood clotting system. Until now polymers have only been able to seal tiny hairline cracks but this new technology has been developed to bond much larger damaged areas. The plastic does this by using a clever system of veins and capillaries which deliver a mixture of ‘crack fixing’ chemicals to the damaged areas. These Chemicals mix together and set to form an ultra hard seal around the damage.
Other Solutions
One of the challenges faced by using the material is gravity. The liquid has to bond almost immediately and the challenge of applying this material whilst under normal environmental factors can be tricky in hard to reach areas but with more research, the polymers application will reportedly become easier.
As well as mobile phone screens, the technology also offers fixable solutions to remote and difficult-to-access damaged technology such as satellites, water pipes and the internal workings of heavy industry computers. Other day to day materials such as car bumpers could also heal themselves after an accident too.
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