Self-healing is a well-known phenomenon in nature: a broken bone merges after some time and if skin is damaged, the wound will stop bleeding and heals again. This concept can be mimicked in order to create polymeric materials with the ability to regenerate after they have suffered degradation or wear. Already realized applications are used in aerospace engineering, and current research in this fascinating field shows how different self-healing mechanisms proven successful by nature can be adapted to produce even more versatile materials. The book combines the knowledge of an international panel of experts in the field and provides the reader with chemical and physical concepts for self-healing polymers, including aspects of biomimetic processes of healing in nature. It shows how to design self-healing polymers and explains the dynamics in these systems. Different self-healing concepts such as encapsulated systems and supramolecular systems are detailed. Chapters on analysis and friction detection in self-healing polymers and on applications round off the book.

DIVLearn how to restore your body's balance by tapping into its built-in healing mechanisms./div

“Esther Sternberg is a rare writer—a physician who healed herself...With her scientific expertise and crystal clear prose, she illuminates how intimately the brain and the immune system talk to each other, and how we can use place and space, sunlight and music, to reboot our brains and move from illness to health.”—Gail Sheehy, author of Passages Does the world make you sick? If the distractions and distortions around you, the jarring colors and sounds, could shake up the healing chemistry of your mind, might your surroundings also have the power to heal you? This is the question Esther Sternberg explores in Healing Spaces, a look at the marvelously rich nexus of mind and body, perception and place. Sternberg immerses us in the discoveries that have revealed a complicated working relationship between the senses, the emotions, and the immune system. First among these is the story of the researcher who, in the 1980s, found that hospital patients with a view of nature healed faster than those without. How could a pleasant view speed healing? The author pursues this question through a series of places and situations that explore the neurobiology of the senses. The book shows how a Disney theme park or a Frank Gehry concert hall, a labyrinth or a garden can trigger or reduce stress, induce anxiety or instill peace. If our senses can lead us to a “place of healing,” it is no surprise that our place in nature is of critical importance in Sternberg’s account. The health of the environment is closely linked to personal health. The discoveries this book describes point to possibilities for designing hospitals, communities, and neighborhoods that promote healing and health for all.

East meets West in this extraordinary guide to natural healing by a prominent doctor of Chinese medicine and the author of Secrets of Longevity. Dr. Mao's philosophy is simple: We all have a built-in healing ability, so why not try to activate it with natural means before we resort to drugs and invasive procedures? For the common cold, why not exploit the power of garlic, ginger, and the herb astragalus instead of taking cold medicine that simply replaces symptoms with side effects? For insomnia, why not try to find a long-term solution through acupressure or feng shui instead of popping sleeping pills, which don't treat the source of the problem? Chinese medicine sees well-being as a result of a balanced life, not just a healthy body. In Part One of Secrets of Self-Healing, Dr. Mao explains that healing food and herbs, exercise, a positive emotional life, a suitable living environment, and spiritual growth are all essential to vitality and lasting health. Using examples of his own patients' experiences, he demonstrates: - How negative emotions can make us ill - How clutter in our homes can create imbalances in our bodies - How Eastern and Western medicine can work together to fight cancer Then, in Part Two, he reveals detailed home remedies for seventy common ailments, such as sore throat, allergies, high blood pressure, sunburn, insomnia, memory loss, and jet lag. Inspirational yet practical, Secrets of Self-Healingwill put readers on the path to a balanced and healthy life.

Self-Healing Composite Materials: From Designs to Applications provides a unique resource on self-healing composites for materials scientists and engineers in academia, as well as researchers involved in the aerospace, automotive, wind-generation, construction, consumer goods and marine industries. There is a huge demand for self-healing composites that respond to their environment like living matter. Unlike other composites, self-healing composites are combined with carbon materials and resins to form a recoverable composite material. This book covers the manufacturing, design and characterization of self-healing composites, including their morphological, structural, mechanical, thermal and electrical properties. The title begins with mathematical background and then considers innovative approaches to physical modeling, analysis and design techniques, providing a robust knowledge of modern self-healing composites with commercial applications. Covers composite fabrication from polymer, nano oxides, epoxy and plastics Gives detailed examples on how self-healing composites may be used Provides readers with a robust knowledge of self-healing composites Presents a unified approach to these human-friendly, commercially valuable materials

This volume covers experimental and theoretical advances on the relationship between composition, structure and macroscopic mechanical properties of novel hydrogels containing dynamic bonds. The chapters of this volume focus on the control of the mechanical properties of several recently discovered gels with the design of monomer composition, chain architecture, type of crosslinking or internal structure. The gels discussed in the different chapters have in common the capability to dissipate energy upon deformation, a desired property for mechanical toughness, while retaining the ability to recover the properties of the virgin material over time or to self-heal when put back in contact after fracture. Some chapters focus on the synthesis and structural aspects while others focus on properties or modelling at the continuum or mesoscopic scale. The volume will be of interest to chemists and material scientists by providing guidelines and general structure-property considerations to synthesize and develop innovative gels tuned for applications. In addition it will provide physicists with a better understanding of the role of weak interactions between molecules and physical crosslinking on macroscopic dissipative properties and self-healing or self-recovering properties.