Taking their cue from biological circulatory systems, University of Illinois researchers have developed vascularized structural composites, creating materials that are lightweight and strong with potential for self-healing, self-cooling, metamaterials and more. “We can make a material now that’s truly multifunctional by simply circulating fluids that do different things within the same material system,” said Scott White, the Willet Professor of aerospace engineering who led the group. “We have a vascularized structural material that can do almost anything.”
