First self-healing glass

On December 14th 2017, scientists at the University of Tokyo, Japan, published a paper that described how they accidentally discovered a glass-like polymer that could heal itself whilst researching adhesives. The material, called polyether thiourea, is a short-chained organic polymer that has the unusual property of being both hard and able to re-fuse cracks and breaks at room temperature. The researchers noticed that when the polymer was cut, it would immediately stick back together and tests showed that only 30 seconds of hand pressure at 21°C (70°F) was enough to seamlessly join the pieces back together. The material was as strong as before it was cut after only a few hours.

The accidental discovery of a polymer glass while trying to find a new adhesive mirrors the invention of ethyl cyanoacrylate (better known as super glue), which was an adhesive discovered by accident while trying to find a new polymer glass.