Chemspy chemistry news and views

Predicting material fatigue: Polymer composites: luminescent zinc oxide tetrapod filler makes inner damage visible - Detection of material failure is a difficult task for engineers, because cracks inside a material block can hardly be identified from the outside. However, early detection can prevent fatal disasters such as the world's deadliest high-speed train accident in 1998 near Eschede, Germany, caused by failure of a metal wheel. It is even more difficult to detect material failure in composite materials. A research team has now developed a new concept to design so-called self-reporting composite materials.(10.1002/adma.201203849)

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