Figure 3
Self-repairing ability of biofilm-textile composites. (a) A schematic and an image showing the steps of using biofilm-textile composites as adhesive patches to repair cuts. (b) SEM images showing that the biofilm reformed in the overlap region joined the two composite pieces. The scale bars are 50 µm. The arrows point at the self-healed biofilm in the lap joints. (c) Adhesion strength obtained from the lap shear tests of the biofilm-textile composites and untransformed cell-only composites repaired by the patching method. The bars represent mean values, and the error bars are standard deviations. (d) A schematic and an image showing the cut repair by welding ends of two biofilm-textile composite pieces. (e) An SEM image of the cross-sectional view of a welded DB-1 mm composite with the textile substrate on the right and the biofilm layer on the left. The red dashed line indicates the cut made with scissors, which was repaired after the two composite pieces were welded by the cohesion of the biofilm layer. The scale bar is 50 µm. (f) Breaking stress of the composites doctor-bladed with biofilm and untransformed cells (DB-Cell-0.17 mm) obtained from the stress–strain curves. The bars represent mean values, and the error bars are standard deviations.
