What if your smartphone could repair themselves?

A new study has found that with the help of nanmotors, electronics might be able to fix themselves.

Scientists focused on the body's immune system for inspiration and now have built-propelled nanomotors that can find and repair small scratches electronic systems.

Washington: A new study has found that with the help of nanomotors, electronics might be able to fix themselves.

Scientists focused on the body's immune system for inspiration and now have built-propelled nanomotors that can find and repair small scratches electronic systems. That could one day lead to flexible batteries, electrodes, solar cells and other devices that heal themselves.

Li Jinxing researcher at the University of California, said electronic circuits are very sophisticated these days, but a crack, even a very small, can interrupt the current flow and eventually lead to the failure of a device traditional electronics can be fixed with solder, but the repair of advanced electronic nanoscale requires innovation.

These gadgets will soon be more ubiquitous than ever, appearing in our clothes, implants and accessories, Li said. However, finding ways to solve nanocircuitos, battery electrodes or other electronic components when broken remains a challenge.

The team designed and built from gold and platinum nanoparticles that are powered by hydrogen peroxide. Platinum drives the fuel to decompose into water and oxygen, which urges the particles. Tests showed that the nanoscale zoom on the surface of a broken electronic circuit connected to a light emitting diode, or LED. As they neared the zero, they got housed therein and bridge the gap between the two sides. Because the particles are made of conductive metals, which allows current to flow again, and the LED lit.

Li said the nanomotors would be ideal for electronic components difficult to repair, such as the conductive layer of solar cells, which are subject to harsh and prone to scratches environmental conditions could also be used to cure sensors and flexible batteries, the Wang lab is also developing.

Moreover, the same concept with different materials and fuels could be used in medical applications for drug delivery to specific locations. The laboratory is also developing new nanomotors that potentially could be deployed in the body to treat different diseases, such as stomach infections.

The study appears in the American Chemical Society National Meeting and Exposition 251st.