Sealing material can self-repair.

by violet0807 on 2008-09-11 14:45:44

The innermost seal layer of the new type of spacesuit will be made of a three-layer structure of "smart materials". So-called "smart materials" have a thick layer of polymer colloid sandwiched between two layers of polyurethane. If the polyurethane layer is damaged, the colloid will seep and solidify at the damaged area, automatically plugging the leak. Experiments conducted in a vacuum chamber show that this material can automatically repair holes up to 2 mm in diameter.