At the University of Michigan, Engineering Researchers
have successfully created a surface that most liquids cannot
wet. When a liquid comes into contact with the surface, the liquid simply
bounces or ricochets off of the material. As an example, when you’re driving in
the rain, you can see all of the little trails rain drops have left behind on
your window or even some individual drops that still remain on the window. But
if the window was instead coated in this new material, the individual water
droplets would slide or bounce off and would not be able to stick around on the
window, leaving no residue. The coating itself is a Nano scale coating that is comprised
of mostly air (95-99% air), which gives the material its ‘special’ properties.
Because the material is comprised mostly of air pockets, the liquids do not
have much of any ‘solid’ material to ‘stick’ to and therefore slide right off.
The material proved to be capable of repelling a large range of liquids, where
out of the one hundred liquids they tested, only two failed (chlorofluorocarbons:
chemicals used in refrigerators and air conditioners). Some of the few liquids
that were repelled were: Water, coffee, soy sauce, vegetable oil, hydrochloric
and sulfuric acids, gasoline, various alcohols, tea, and non-Newtonian liquids
(ex. Shampoos, blood, printer ink, etc.). There is a video included with the
article that I highly recommend watching. I personally find it quite intriguing
and it really illustrates the effect better than a picture. Here is a picture
anyway:
This technology can potentially ‘perfect’ or
streamline many technologies out there today, with one of my favorites being,
fingerprint proof materials for a touch screen technology. (It is really annoying having those lingering fingerprints all over the place). But the material itself can
also be used for ships to hopefully create a more frictionless environment
which would allow boat engines to be more efficient. The material could even be
used as a protective coating from toxic chemicals such as hydrochloric acid. The
material use can really be applied to anything you can think of where one
would not desire a liquid interfering in some way; perhaps one day it will be a
transparent material on windows of a car so you might not need windshield
wipers anymore. I can really see this material/coating being something commonly
found in many technologies and daily life in the future.
Article: (I suggest watching the clip)
-Mike Dougherty
Yeah, I've heard a lot about these kinds of liquid resistant materials. They are a fascinating application of nano, and sometimes biomimetic, properties. They have some potential safety applications, like putting them on airplane wings to prevent icing. But one problem is the cost. It's so very, very expensive. What interest do you think a laboratory has in highlighting an invention or discovery long before that the thing found has any hope of practical application? How do you think the work of laboratories gets into the news?
ReplyDelete