When sliced with a scalpel and then pressed back together, the material recovers 75 percent of its mechanical strength and electrical conductivity in seconds; 100 percent in about half an hour.
The team envisions prosthetic arms that can detect the pressure of a handshake or the degree of bend in a joint, as well as electrical wires that can repair themselves when broken.
Caption: A researcher cuts a piece of the self-healing "skin". Photo: Stanford University.
Tekla S. Perry is a senior editor at IEEE Spectrum. Based in Palo Alto, Calif., she's been covering the people, companies, and technology that make Silicon Valley a special place for more than 40 years. An IEEE member, she holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Michigan State University.