OUR PROJECT
Developing Self-healing Technologies
Bio-based and bio-inspired self-healing materials are an emerging technology, currently being investigated by researchers in academia and industry across the globe. However, most studies have yet to explore the opportunities for industrial application or considered their impact from a sustainability perspective, and there are many factors that need to be deliberated if we are to implement these types of materials into products.
​
‘Manufacturing Immortality’ is a three year EPSRC funded consortium seeking to facilitate a step change in UK manufacturing through the development of evolvable bio-hybrid products with the inherent capacity to autonomously sense and repair. We will be developing new compositions of self-healing materials, as well as investigating the feasibility of designing and manufacturing with this technology.
Our Plan
To achieve this ambitious aim, this project brings together a team of 14 UK academics, located at recognised centres of excellence in their respective fields, and leverages significant industrial and stakeholder support. The outcomes of this project will be transformative, disrupting the current industrial system, and positioning the UK as a global leader in manufacturing technologies. The objectives of this research project are as follows:
​
1. To develop bio-digitally enabled novel approaches for the predictable and reproducible assembly of evolvable bio-hybrid products and devices that possess the inherent ability to self-heal.
​
2. To employ the methods developed in (1) to facilitate the assembly and testing of evolvable self-healing products and devices within three application areas: electrochemical energy devices, e.g. fuel cells and batteries; consumer electronics; and safety critical systems, e.g. nuclear
​
3. To devise and implement new business models that account for the system wide savings that will be achieved as a result of the adoption of this new manufacturing technology; specifically, reductions in resource usage, recycling, repair, and remanufacturing costs.
​
For more information on the EPSRC grant application please see the link below:
​
https://gow.epsrc.ukri.org/NGBOViewGrant.aspx?GrantRef=EP/R020957/1
​
​
Check our video we created for the Disruptive Innovation Festival in November 2018!