Self-Healing at the Nanoscale : Mechanisms and Key Concepts of Natural and Artificial Systems

Self-healing materials can repair damage caused by their activity, similar to how biological systems heal themselves after being wounded. This book presents a general strategy and key concepts of self-healing systems, repairing mechanisms at the nanoscale, and the role of nanostructures in these systems. The text covers natural and artificial systems, including nanostructured and macroscopic systems. It also reviews a series of systems that show potential for building self-healing devices.

A complete panorama of self-healing strategies, Self-Healing at the Nanoscale: Mechanisms and Key Concepts of Natural and Artificial Systems focuses on the development of new nanoscale self-healing systems, from general concepts to physical chemical mechanisms. With a special emphasis on key concepts, strategies, and mechanisms at the atomic, molecular, and nanometric scales, this book is made up of three parts:

• Natural Self-Healing Systems covers paradigmatic self-repair systems developed by nature in living organisms
• Artificial Self-Healing Systems describes various materials whose structures have been engineered at the micro- or nanoscale to obtain self-repair ability
• Frontiers of Self-Healing Systems includes contributions on systems studied in recent years that have shown potential for developing or inspiring new self-healing nanomaterials

The development of self-healing systems, especially concerning materials and the nanoscale, is a nascent yet appealing topic for scientists in fields ranging from engineering to biology. Self-Healing at the Nanoscale provides a broad view of the concepts, mechanisms, and types of self-healing systems at the nanoscale, forming a guide to the field and inspiring the development of self-healing systems for the future.