Image of the Week Gallery
Microcapsules for Self-Healing Polymer Composites
Media Details
Created 05/23/2002
These images illustrate the structure of microcapsules used in self-healing polymers. The four ESEM images show ruptured microcapsules in the fracture plane, individual microcapsules, surface morphology of a single burst microcapsule, and a cross-section of the microcapsule shell wall (clockwise from top left). The foreground sequence of light microscopy images shows the rupture of microcapsules and subsequent release of healing agent in the presence of a propagating crack [White et al., Nature 2001]. The background light microscopy image shows a perpendicular view of a crack propagating through a field of microcapsules [Brown, Journal of Microencapsulation {cover} 2002].
Credits
- Eric N. Brown , Department of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics; Beckman Institute Autonomic Materials Lab (ACS)