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Letter

Nature Materials 6, 581–585 (1 August 2007) | doi:10.1038/nmat1934

Self-healing materials with microvascular|[nbsp]|networks

Kathleen S. Toohey , Nancy R. Sottos , Jennifer A. Lewis , Jeffrey S. Moore & Scott R. White

Self-healing polymers composed of microencapsulated healing agents exhibit remarkable mechanical performance and regenerative ability, but are limited to autonomic repair of a single damage event in a given location. Self-healing is triggered by crack-induced rupture of the embedded capsules; thus, once a localized region is depleted of healing agent, further repair is precluded.