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May 16, 2020

Self-repairing shoes may be a reality thanks to 3D-printed rubber

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, robotics/AI

Circa 2019 face_with_colon_three


Shoes will invariably wear out with enough use, but scientists might have found a way to delay the shopping trip for their replacements. A USC team has created a self-healing 3D-printed rubber that could be ideal for footwear, tires and even soft robotics. The effort involves 3D printing the material with photopolymerization (solidifying a resin with light) while introducing an oxidizer at just the right ratio to add self-healing properties without slowing down the solidifying process.

Fig. 1: Additive manufacturing of self-healing elastomers.

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