The latest breakthrough in self-healing polymers, discovered by scientists with Clemson University (Clemson, South Carolina), is the use of sugar as a new key ingredient. An earlier version of the scientists’ polymers relied on energy from ultraviolet light, which is plentiful from the sun, to fuel the chemical reaction that repairs the material. The reaction takes longer, however, if sun exposure is limited. The new version uses sugar as the energy source. The technology, part of a demonstration project under the U.S. Department of Defense’s Corrosion Prevention and Control Program, is being evaluated by the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC). A polyurethane coating incorporating additives that enable the self-repairing mechanism is being applied to large hangar doors at the Corpus Christi Army Depot in Texas. To learn more, visit newsstand.clemson.edu.