Funding: CDTI-MICNN (CENIT Programme 2010) and ACCIONA Infraestructuras
Region: National
Project period: 2011 – 2013
Principal Investigator: Dr. Federico Sket (federico.sket@imdea.org)

Self‐healing is a very attractive concept if the field of structural materials that is under study for a number of different systems and using different strategies. Among them, a very prominent example is the use of novel self‐healing polymer systems containing a liquid healing agent stored in microcapsules.

The objective of the project is to carry out X-ray computer-assisted nanotomography studies of the process of self healing in polymer matrix composites, based on the inclusion of microcapsules with different healing agents. This involves the study of the actual release process of the healing agent from ruptured particles near the original crack surface and the posterior process of healing.

These research activities are being developed within the framework of the project CENIT TRAINER (Smart Self Healing Technology of Materials) in collaboration with the Spanish company ACCIONA Infraestructuras. TRAINER aims at developing the knowledge and technology necessary to obtain materials that repair autonomously and automatically without human intervention after suffering damage, recovering its initial properties both aesthetic and mechanical.