Now, scientists are looking at putting this technology to work in other materials, embedding these powerful packets in concrete and metal, so that just about anything in your life can last longer and be safer to use.
The capsules the researchers have come up with are made by mixing butylcyanoacrylate, a chemical found in superglue, with an oil carrying the healing compounds.
In the particular process recently presented by Zimmerman's grad student Ephraim Morado at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Diego, the new polyurethanes behave like superglue.