For some time now, scientists have been researching materials, which – equipped with sensors and controls – “behave” similarly to biological systems. Initial successes with these kinds of “smart materials” have already been achieved. As a result, materials could soon be available which repair themselves or adapt to certain environmental conditions autonomously.

For instance, a bridge could reinforce itself and seal cracks during an earthquake or a car with “intelligent crumple zones” could regain its original form after an accident. Just like living things, these systems would adapt to requirements and make good any possible damage or compensate for the failure of individual elements.

Scientists have already proved that these kinds of materials and structures are essentially feasible. However, they do require an array of special aids. These aids include so-called actuators and motors, which behave in the same way as muscles, sensors which serve as nerves and memory and computational networks which represent the brain and spinal column. Multi-functional compound materials, which absorb vibrations autonomously, thus reducing noise pollution are one example of smart materials which have already been researched and applied. They are equipped with sensors, which register when the material begins to vibrate. The sensor signal is then processed by a regulator, which controls the integrated actuators in such a way that they absorb the vibrations. Micrometer fine ceramic fibres are used which convert mechanical or thermal tension into electrical signals.

Medicine can also profit from intelligent materials. Today small mesh tubes made of metal, called stents, are already being implanted in arteries to reinforce them and prevent them from becoming blocked. The stents of the future will be smart. They will be injected directly into the vein, involving only the simplest of medical procedures, and will autonomously take on the desired form in the affected artery, expanding it and improving blood circulation. The conversion will be triggered by body temperature. The advantage for the patient is that a complicated operation will be replaced with a minor medical procedure, which is just as effective.

Work is also being carried out on synthetic materials with a “memory effect”. Threads which knot themselves, spirals which remember their original stretched form. The “memory materials” remember their form and, after being deformed, revert to their original shape. Warmth or light are enough to make them spring back into shape. Modern research is developing “memory materials” which revert to their original shape after being deformed.