Artificial skin, which is used to help burn victims (among other purposes), has come a long way, but it still falls short of the real thing, particularly when it comes to repairing itself. Now researchers at Stanford University have developed a plastic skin that can conduct electrical signals, much the way real skin signals the brain, and heals itself, when damaged, faster than real skin. The plastic is made of long chains of molecules joined by hydrogen bonds that break apart easily but also reconnect easily. Pressed together for a few seconds, the stuff regains its conductivity and strength in about a half-hour.
The new material, which the scientists are calling the first of its kind, is described in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.
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