Your umbrella and jacket might keep you pretty dry in the rainy months of the year – but what if they were so waterproof that water essentially jumped away screaming at the very sight of you? Researchers at Brigham Young University have created a super-waterproof material that takes repelling liquid to the next level.
Regular waterproof, or “hydrophobic,” materials (like wax) cause drops of water to bead up on their surface; but with this new super-hyrdophobic surface, the water drops bounce right off it like a ball. Though sprays and coatings exist that claim to be super-hydrophobic, this new material is actually the most intense – it’s a whole surface made out of microscopic ridges. When you add a super-hyrdophobic coating to this already super-hyrdophobic material, you get the most waterproof surface in the world.
The team says that these surfaces can be used for a variety of applications, including self-cleaning solar panels, syringes, and ships; showers, tubs, and toilets that don’t get hard water stains; and plane wings that resist icing in the cold. But the material can also be used for clean, efficient energy generation – the material can speed up the energy creation process and lower costs by condensing gas quickly.
Which sounds amazing and super-important – but mostly I’m excited about never having to sit on the tarmac while waiting for my plane to get de-iced ever again.
(via BYU)
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