Terminator Is of plastic
IK4-Cidetec develops Terminator, a material car-repairable
Researchers of the Technological Centre
The work, realizar by researchers of IK4-Cidetec and published in the magazine Materials Horizons of the Real Sociedad British of Chemicals, has left like result the first able polymer of car-regenerate without the need of any type of external stimulus. It treats of a polymeric material very common and used in the sector of the industry that has an elastic behaviour. This type of material thermostable elastomers use in the manufacture of flexible connections of together sellantes, unions between different materials or shock-absorbers of vibrations, among others. In his period of service, the material is subject to fatigue, impacts, abrasion, corrosion, wear, and other phenomena that cause the learning of small fractures that, en última instancia, can drive to the definite failure of the piece. From a point of view of hygiene, this is especially critical when the material elastomérico form splits of a machine, a bridge, the road of the train or the road. Because of this, many of these materials have a life limited and have to be frequently substituted causing high costs of maintenance, loss of efficiency, as well as an important generation of waste, since the current thermostable elastomers are, by definition, no recyclable.
Terminator Is able of 'car-sanarse' until in 97%, recovering his previous properties with so alone plant the together pieces.
More hygiene and reliability
The implantation in the industry of this first polymer, with capacity for car-regenerate without any type of help, involves some profits ineludibles: machines and vehicles safer and reliable thanks to components in pumps, motors, boxes of change, etc.; systems of protection of impacts more effective; systems of amortiguación of noise and vibrations in rail roads more durable; asphalts that demand less maintenance; and even houses and houses safer. The scientists realizar a demonstration to present the qualities of this new polymer, that after being cut in two halves and go back to join it of manual way, shows an efficiency of 97% of repair in so alone two hours, being irrompible when it pulls manually. This capacity of author regeneration has been the one who has awarded him the nickname of Terminator because of his resemblance with the robot T-1.000 of the known cinematographic saga.
The new polymer is irrompible, of manual way, once has regenerated .
The project has developed in the frame of the European project Shine, endowed with four million euros and three years of length (2013-16), the consortium is constituted by seven centres of investigation and five pertaining companies to eight European countries. Between them they stand out the companies Arkema France and Acciona Infrastructures and the centres IK4-Cidetec, Fraunhofer and Dutch Polymer Institute. IK4-Cidetec has foreseen to continue working in this thematic to try develop material car-repairable harder through the incorporation of reinforcements or the employment of other technologies.