As smartphones move to an all-display and no bezels design, the onus will be on smartphone makers to produce rigid and robust phones. Even in today’s day and age, the smartphones are broken after a bad fall and if it’s a flagship phone, then the cost of repairing is huge. All of that might change if this self-healing glass becomes commercially available to smartphone makers.
Researchers from the University of Tokyo claim that they have discovered a type of glass that can heal itself, which could be used in phone displays and other devices. This can be done thanks to a new polymer called “polyether-thioureas” that lets the screen repair cracks when pressed upon. Just like a lot of famous discoveries, this self-healing glass was discovered by accident as well. A student named Yu Yanagisawa was attempting to use the material as glue when he discovered its healing properties.
This is not the first time that a similar technology has come to the fore. Similar self-healing methods have been tried on plastic and rubber but, the researchers say this is the first of its kind as it can be repaired at room temperature. Motorola filed a patent a few months back which chronicled the use of self-healing display technology that would fix cracks when heat is applied. The LG G Flex 2 had a back panel that could self-heal minor scratches and dings.
It is certain that implementing this technology especially at its nascent stage will be costly and might not be an average consumer’s cup of tea. But, there is a market for rugged smartphones and enthusiasts will be more than happy to spend the extra bucks if it meant that their devices could self-heal.
