Scientists have created a new material that simply self-destructs at a specific time. The process, which takes inspiration from the way life uses and reuses molecules, could pave the way for materials that don't need to be recycled, but instead would simply disintegrate at an appointed time. The finding could lead to various products, including structures for drug delivery, transplant anchors and vanishing ink.
The secret behind these self-destructing molecules is that they would require a tiny input of energy to stay in their useful form — without it, they … poof.
"They are materials that don't want to be that type of material. They'd rather be the original building blocks," said study co-author Job Boekhoven, a chemist at the Technical University of Munich in Germany. "They'd rather fall apart and be nothing." [Biomimicry: 7 Cool Technologies Inspired by Nature]
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