Organic polymers can be used to create materials with very distinct properties (both good and bad). For example, thermoset materials resist heat and solvents, making them extremely durable and allowing them to be used in the oven. The downside is that, once they’re made, that’s it—no recycling. Thermoplastics are stable below a set temperature, but they can be melted, allowing them to be remade into new materials. Unfortunately, they don’t hold up very well to solvents.

Now, researchers are saying they’ve created a third option, one that acts like a thermoplastic at high temperatures but can hold up to most solvents. The material’s secret? An embedded catalyst that allows chemical bonds to constantly rearrange. The material’s desired properties can be tuned based on the polymer it’s made from and how much catalyst remains. (via New, recyclable plastic lets you weld pieces together with a hairdryer)

Forget undressing, how can one get some private ‘head-changing’, much less something-something in one of these?

fuckyeahcamping:

(via Transparent bubble tent puts campers under the stars (but careful where you get undressed!) | Mail Online)

(via jaynawallace)

New elastic polymer self-heals in just one minute

Self-healing polymers are extremely sought after by scientists, as they have many useful—not to mention lucrative—applications. Back in 2009, we reported a polyurethane-based polymeric material that heals itself in roughly an hour when exposed to UV light. That particular polymer, made by Biswajit Ghosh and Marek W. Urban, would be useful as a protective coating for phones, cars, etc. It worked based on the principle of having a reactive chemical component that would split open when physically damaged to create two reactive ends that can then covalently link together under UV light to repair itself.

In a recent issue of Nature, Mark Burnworth and his colleagues report a different type of self-healing material, one that can repair itself in about a minute under UV light.

(via Ars Technica)