Beijing, Nov 15 (PTI) Scientists have developed liquid-repellent surfaces, that could be used in clothes which notonly keep you dry on rainy days, but also stay free of dirtand oil - putting an end to our laundry woes.
On liquid-repellent surfaces, liquid droplets bounce awayinstead of being stuck. These surfaces are important in manyfields, such as water-repellent clothes and anti-foulingkitchenware.
Used as drag-reduction coatings for water vehicles, thesesurfaces can even help with speeding up cargo ships andmilitary equipment so as to save energy.
However, the functional outcomes of existing liquid-repellent surfaces have not been satisfactory, because ofinadequacies of conventional structural design and fabricationapproaches in engineering microstructures and properties ofsuch surfaces.
Researchers led by Professor Wang Liqiu from theUniversity of Hong Kong (HKU) developed a robust liquid-repellent structure and the fabrication of porous surfaces byan innovative microfluidic-droplet-based technique.
Materials such as textiles, metals, and glasses coveredby a layer of this robust porous surface can then becomeliquid-repellent.
With the new technology developed by the team, clotheswould never get wet on rainy days in the future.
The team effectively resolved the conflict betweenliquid-repellency and mechanical stability by the springtail-cuticle-inspired design of liquid-repellent structures.
Springtails are soil-dwelling arthropods whose habitatsoften experience rain and flooding.
As a consequence, springtails evolve their cuticles withstrong mechanical durability and robust liquid repellency toresist friction from soil particles and to survive in wateryenvironments, respectively.
The team designed porous surfaces composed ofinterconnected honeycomb-like micro-cavities with a re-entrantprofile: interconnectivity ensures mechanical stability andre-entrant structure yields robust liquid-repellency.
The surfaces repel at least 10 types of liquid, includingwater, surfactant solutions, oils, and organic solvents andshow an astounding over 21-fold enhancement in mechanicalstability compared with discrete structures.
The flexible surfaces can also be readily coated ontovarious objects for liquid-repellency.
The breakthrough will change the way liquid-repellentsurfaces are fabricated for robust liquid-repellency, strongmechanical stability, and economical production at acommercial scale.
It has also paved the way for further progress increating surface structures by design, and in tailoring theirmorphology, repellency and mechanical stability to suit adesired application in various fields, including energy,buildings, automobiles, chemical engineering, electronics,environments, bio-medical industry, advanced manufacturing,water vehicle and military equipment. PTI MHNMHN.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.