Biology can often be the ultimate design inspiration. Most recently, engineers at MIT were able to take a leaf out of nature’s playbook to design a material that’s self-healing and carbon-negative. It’s a welcome new tool in the fight against climate change, and could one day replace emissions-heavy materials like concrete with a far more low-maintenance, environmentally friendly alternative.
In the new study published in Advanced Materials, chemical engineers demonstrated how to design a material capable of drawing climate-warming carbon dioxide from the air and then use it to grow and repair itself. The study, led by professor Michael Strano at MIT, breaks barriers in the field of material science, with an inexpensive, simple to produce, self-repairing polymer that needs minimal material.
“Our material needs nothing but atmospheric carbon dioxide and ambient light, which are ubiquitous,” co-author Seonyeong Kwak explains to Inverse in an email.
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