BBC Explores Self-Healing Smartphone Tech

Scott Harvey 26th September 2018 0 Comments

A BBC feature has explored the possibility of smartphones that can heal from screen cracks being developed.

Samsung, the piece notes, has already begun filing patents for self-healing smartphones. One patent is titled “ANTI-FINGERPRINGING COMPOSITION WITH SELF-HEALING PROPERTY, FILM, LAMINATE, AND DEVICE”.

Certain polymers containing a substance called thiourea are able to recover from minor cracks, technology which could be applied to smartphones according to some materials scientists.

Screens, which need to be incredibly resilient, may not be the next place where the technology is applied however.

Internal circuitry might be able to recover from damage as self-healing materials evolve, and some phones already come with scratch-resistant bodywork that harnesses self-healing.

Some manufacturers in other sectors have started producing self-healing products, such as US firm Feynlab. Feynlab makes a coating that can be applied to cars to help paintwork recover from damage.

The article concludes: “Despite the many challenges involved in developing these technologies, the tantalising prospect remains: a future in which our phones, vehicles and buildings are safer all thanks to the power of self-healing.”