This Magnetic Ink Would Let Broken Wearable Heal Themselves

This Magnetic Ink Would Let Broken Wearable Heal Themselves

As wearables become more ubiquitous, scientists are looking forwards towards the problems these new technologies may present. One recent avenue of inquiry is into printable tech, using inks that conduct electronic current to print circuits into materials like cloth or paper. The downside to this technology is what anyone who wears clothes knows--they can be easily damaged. One possible solution to this dilemma recently found by the University of California, San Diego, is in using highly magnetized ink to make a wearable that "heals" itself when it's broken, by sticking itself back together and allowing the current to keep flowing. Joseph Wang of UCSD's nanoengineering lab published a paper about the invention in Science Advances.

In the study, Wang and colleagues used neodymium magnets, found in hard drives and even some refrigerator magnets, and ground them up into the ink, making it super-magnetic. This is "a new concept for self-healing," Zhenan Bao, a Stanford University engineering professor who was not involved in the study told the New York Times. Unlike other self-healing processes, "this method is simple, fast and does not require adding heat, light or other chemicals."

There are other advantages to using magnetic ink. It's cheap--hundreds of devices could be made with $10 worth of ink--and because the ink could make these products last longer, it would also be a good step towards sustainability in wearable tech. "If you're wearing a device on your skin and it gets broken as you move around, you don't have to throw it away," Amay Bandodkar, an author of the study, told the Times. "Within a few seconds it's going to self-heal, and you can use it over and over again."