---
title: "New Self-Repairing Material Could Let You Key Your Car Just for Fun"
description: "A new material harnesses photosynthesis to automatically plug holes and repair scratches with just air and sunlight. But it's not quite useful yet."
date: "2018-11-08"
modified: "2018-11-08"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/self-repairing-material"
categories:
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "materials"
  - "plants"
  - "self-repairing"
  - "the digest"
---

# New Self-Repairing Material Could Let You Key Your Car Just for Fun

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/self-repairing-material2.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Vraj Shah/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## T-1000

A car that erases key scratches like an Etch-a-Sketch. A phone that fixes itself when you drop it on the sidewalk moments after buying it. Body armor and robots that can automatically stitch up holes.

If a new self-growing and self-repairing material recently developed at MIT hits the market, these are just some of the ways it could help our clumsy selves in everyday life, [reports *Nexus Media*](<https://nexusmedianews.com/imagine-a-cell-phone-that-regrows-its-screen-f91e01f1d23b>).

## Green Power

The material, described in research recently [published in the journal *Advanced Materials*](<https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/adma.201804037?referrer_access_token=-E4fHMphTAag22oIEs3R-E4keas67K9QMdWULTWMo8PgoYGcrwqK7nABzb7VaV3NR9Rp_F07PYoR1zIGG8LRKNpr0Lm9iclYEvbw-_0FqGBz_sWkwAKujZcLIuFRmxZo>), relies on photosynthesis — the same biochemical process that plants use to turn sunlight and carbon dioxide into food.

In short, scientists embedded chloroplasts — the parts of plant and some bacterial cells that carry out photosynthesis — into a thin film. With just the air around them and ample sunlight, the chloroplasts generate a thin biofilm that [patches holes and strengthens](<https://futurism.com/next-revolution-transport-roads-heal-themselves>) over time.

## Watching Grass Grow

Right now, the film grows slowly and it's not particularly strong, two problems that will need to be solved before these [self-repairing products](<https://futurism.com/darpa-is-working-to-make-homes-that-grow-and-can-repair-themselves>) hit the market. But this new research shows that chloroplast-based materials can work, something that's never been done before.

Now it's up to these scientists and their colleagues to make a version that's actually useful — because let’s be real, I added two more cracks to my phone screen just while writing this article.

**READ MORE:** [Imagine a Phone That Regrows Its Screen](<https://nexusmedianews.com/imagine-a-cell-phone-that-regrows-its-screen-f91e01f1d23b>) \[*Nexus Media*\]

***More on regenerative materials:*** ***[New Soft Robotic Skin Automatically Heals Itself, Even If You Shoot It Full Of Holes](<https://futurism.com/soft-robots-skin-automatically-heals>)***

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)