Soon, your phone's cracked screen may have its own healing factor.

在不久的将来，摔碎的手机屏幕或将能够自我修复。

Scientists from the Department of Chemistry at the University of California, Riverside have developed a self-healing material that has potential applications for phone screens, artificial muscles, and more.

来自加利福尼亚大学河滨分校化学系的科学家们研发出一种具有自我修复功能的新型材料。该材料或许可以应用于手机屏幕、人造肌肉以及其他更多领域。

The concept isn't exactly new. In late 2013, the LG G Flex¹ came out with a self-healing back that automatically repaired scratches and other wear and tear in a matter of minutes. The Flex's material was non-conductive, so it couldn't be used on screens.

这并不是一种全新的概念。早在2013年年底，LG公司推出的G Flex手机便在其背壳中使用了一种自我修复材料，该材料可在几分钟之内自动修复划痕以及其他表面磨损。但因为不具备导电性，所以无法应用于手机屏幕。

This new material is "transparent², self-healing, highly stretchable material that can be electrically activated³ and could be used to improve batteries, electronic devices, and robots," according to a blog post from UC Riverside.

加利福尼亚大学河滨分校官网上的一篇博文写道，这种新研发的材料“外观透明，具有自我修复性功能和高延展性”，“该材料具有电活性，可用于提升电池、电子设备和机器人的性能”。

Chao Wang, one of the authors of the paper, "developed an interest in self-healing materials because of his lifelong love of Wolverine, the comic book character who has the ability to self-heal."

研究论文作者之一王超（音）表示，他研究自我修复材料的兴趣起源于一种自己长期以来都很喜爱的动物——狼獾，它们常常出现在连环画里，具有很强的自我修复能力。

Christoph Keplinger, another author of the paper, has previously⁴ demonstrated that these stretchable, transparent materials can be used to create transparent loudspeakers. With the additional ability to self-heal, the new material is ideal for electronics. The material is both low-cost and strong and can fix itself by resting for 24 hours at room temperature.

先前，该研究论文的另一位作者克里斯托弗•凯普林格曾证明这些具有延展性的透明材料可用于生产透明扬声器。如今再加上自我修复功能，这种新型材料是生产电子设备的绝佳材料。该材料不仅成本低，而且材质坚固，置于室温中24小时便可进行自我修复。

While it may sound futuristic, Wang expects to see materials like the one developed by his lab in production in as little as three years.

这些设想的实现听上去似乎遥不可及，但王超预计像他所在的实验室研发的这种新型材料再有三年就能投产。

"Within three years, more self-healing products will go to market and change our everyday life. It will make our cellphones achieve much better performance than what they can achieve right now," Wang told Business Insider.

他对商业内幕网说道：“三年之内，会有更多具有自我修复能力的产品进入市场，并且改变我们的日常生活。未来的手机产品将会拥有比现在更好的性能。”