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Self-healing asphalt uses plant spores to keep potholes from forming
If you want to stop potholes from forming in asphalt roads, you've gotta get 'em while they're still just tiny cracks. A new self-healing asphalt could one day do that very thing, utilizing spores obtained from moss.
The researchers started by utilizing machine learning algorithms to model the manner in which bitumen (the sticky black stuff in asphalt) oxidizes and hardens in response to environmental factors. In order to heal the initial micro-cracks before they can form into larger cracks – and ultimately into potholes – there needs to be a way of rejuvenating the oxidized bitumen. When the asphalt samples were subjected to conditions that caused micro-cracks to form in the bitumen, the spores within those cracks ruptured and released the sunflower oil.
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