BES Highlights

In a novel simultaneous clean-and-repair mechanism, flowing oil-in-water droplets move nanoparticle (NP) debris, shown as green spheres, into the cracks. The droplets pick up the NPs, then deposit them in the cracked regions.
Simple fluid-driven nanoparticle catch-and-release process directs repair of cracks with debris from the damage.
The reorganization of nearby water molecules caused a pore in a material built from proteins to open (left) and close (right). Pore closing leads to expulsion of ordered water molecules close to the protein surface.
Knowing how to assemble a porous architecture from proteins able to morph from one shape to another could benefit filtration, other applications.