Functional materials can do a ‘trick’. For example conducting electricity, or emitting light when a voltage difference is applied over the material, or generating a voltage when the material is compressed. The electrolyte in a fuel cell through which ions are being transported is clearly a functional material, just as the (doped) silicon semi-conducting material in a solar cell. Functional materials are applied, among others, within (micro) electronics, lighting (including LEDs), energy generation (such as solar cells and fuel cells) and energy storage (like batteries).

Just like any other material, a functional material can fail. This can have an external cause – drop a mobile phone on the floor – but it can also occur ‘automatically’. In order to improve the reliability of these systems – and to extend the lifetime – these ‘invisible’ defects have to be noticed, and they have to heal themselves. This shows the importance of research on the self healing capabilities of smart, functional materials, in order to get reliable high-tech materials for computer parts, solar cells or batteries which last longer. And that’s what this bilingual booklet (both Dutch and English), written by Betase, is about.

Here you can download the booklet as a PDF file.

Published as:
Self healing materials – Functional materials / Functionele materialen, a bilingual publication (Dutch/English) of Agentschap NL, The Netherlands, September 2012, 32 pages