The World in 2030

262 The World in 2030
or the transmission of sound, light, heat, or other
emissions. 481
But in the first decade of the 21 st century we don’t have to
rely entirely on speculation about the various sorts of ‘super
plastic’ which will be in use by 2030. Although not based on
nanotechnology, an announcement made in June 2007 by
researchers at the University of Illinois caught the world’s
headlines. Under the strap-line ‘Plastic That Heals Itself’ the
MIT Technology review reported:
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign (UIUC) have made a polymer material
that can heal itself repeatedly when it cracks. It’s a significant
advance toward self-healing medical implants
and self-repairing materials for use in airplanes and
spacecraft. It could also be used for cooling microprocessors
and electronic circuits, and it could pave the way
toward plastic coatings that regenerate themselves.
Modeled on human skin, the new material that heals
itself multiple times is made of two layers. The polymer
coating on top contains tiny catalyst pieces scattered
throughout. The substrate contains a network
of microchannels carrying a liquid healing agent.
When the coating cracks, the cracks spread downward
and reach the underlying channels, which ooze
out healing agent. The agent mixes with the catalyst
and forms a polymer, filling in the cracks. 482
And completely new methods of producing plastic will
mean that biomass (rather than oil) becomes another