The development of methods to detect and repair damage in polymers is an active area of research. Most studies have concentrated on internal mechanisms, which can suffer from deactivation over time. In this paper, an external method for the detection and repair of cracks in polymers using a salt-triggered mechanism was investigated. A polymer embedded with salt is used as an activating agent. When the polymer is damaged, the coating is exposed to an aqueous solution, and the salt leaches out, powering flows and activating the reagents in the fluid. Detection is possible with a suspension of fluorescent quantum dots, which aggregate at the site of leaching. Repair occurs when the solution contains oil-in-water emulsions transporting polymerization reagents. Since the emulsions destabilize in high ionic strengths, the addition of salt causes them to flocculate and coalesce, allowing the reactants to mix and deposit polymer.
