Ever dreamed of a car that repairs itself or a building that fixes itself? Well – nanotechnology promises to produce just that! (in due time, of course). Material engineers are learning to appreciate the ability of biological organisms to automatically initiate self-healing and self-repair when damages are sustained.

Self-repairing materials will mean lengthening product lifetimes on almost all industries. One of the possible approaches is the use of nanocontainers that are given the ability to release encapsulated active materials in a controlled and precise manner, thereby producing self-repairing coating. The coating however should provide for the release of the repairing material upon changes in coating integrity.