Upcoming 3D Printed Self-Repairing Tires And Shoes

Researchers from the University of South California Viterbi School of Engineering have been developing this special type of rubber and have made an astounding achievement. The researchers have successfully engineered a 3D printed self-repairing rubber. Moreover, the new rubber can be quickly produced, and countless applications can take advantage of it ranging from electronics to soft robotics. The rubber uses a 3D printing method using photopolymerization.

Photopolymerization is the process that uses ultraviolet or visible light to harden a liquid resin and this process involved a reaction with a chemical group known as thiols. The thiols when reacting with an oxidizer will transform into disulfides, a substance that has the ability of self-repair.

What’s left for the researchers to do is to find out the perfect ratio between the two substances to maximize the self-repair capability. The material can heal itself at a fast pace. The material is said to be able to print a 17.5-millimeter square in only 5 seconds.

Printing a full object will take approximately 20 minutes. Also, the time for them to self-repair will take a few hours, but it will definitely worth it.

The researchers have been testing their theory on different products which include an electronic sensor, a soft robot, a multiphase composite, and a shoe pad. Currently, they are expanding the rubber’s applications by working on these self-healing rubbers with various levels of stiffness.