Home > Press > Nanotech Innovation Keeps Surfaces Clean and Transparent
 |
Abstract:
Hanging hundreds of feet off the ground to wash a skyscraper's windows or pumping water out to a desert solar array to keep its panels and mirrors clean is more than just a hassle—it's an expensive problem with serious ecological implications.
Nanotech Innovation Keeps Surfaces Clean and Transparent
Philadelphia, PA | Posted on December 21st, 2013A spin-off company from Penn has found a way to solve the problem of keeping surfaces clean, while also keeping them transparent.
Nelum Sciences, created under an UPstart program in Penn's Center for Technology Transfer, has developed a superhydrophobic coating that can be sprayed onto any surface. The water-based solution contains nanoscopic particles that add a nearly invisible layer of roughness to a surface. This increases the contact angle of the material to which these particles are applied.
A contact angle is the angle the edges of a resting drop of liquid make with a surface. When the angle is low, a drop resembles a flattened hemisphere, with edges that are stuck to the surface. But as the angle increases, a drop begins to look more like a ball, until it literally rolls away instead of sticking.
When these balls of liquid roll off a superhydrophobic surface, they pick up any debris they encounter in their paths, keeping a surface clean.
Co-founded in 2011 by Shu Yang, professor of materials science and engineering in Penn's School of Engineering and Applied Science, Nelum Science's coating is based on her nanotechnology research. Fabricating the coating's nanoparticles at sizes smaller than the wavelength of light—the quality that makes them transparent—is the product of cutting-edge laboratory techniques. The company's inspiration, however, came from structures created by nature.
"Some plants, like lotuses, and other biological structures, like butterfly wings, have this kind of nano-roughness to keep them clean and dry," Yang says. "That's why we named the company after the lotus' Latin name, nelumbo."
Other superhydrophobic sprays have recently come on the market, but they give surfaces a hazy, frosted appearance, making them inappropriate for applications where cleanliness is critical, such as windows, lenses, safety goggles, and solar panels.
Text by Evan Lerner
Video by Kurtis Sensenig
####
For more information, please click here
Copyright © University of Pennsylvania
If you have a comment, please Contact us.Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.
Bookmark:
| Related News Press |
News and information
Beyond wires: Bubble technology powers next-generation electronics:New laser-based bubble printing technique creates ultra-flexible liquid metal circuits November 8th, 2024
Nanoparticle bursts over the Amazon rainforest: Rainfall induces bursts of natural nanoparticles that can form clouds and further precipitation over the Amazon rainforest November 8th, 2024
Nanotechnology: Flexible biosensors with modular design November 8th, 2024
Exosomes: A potential biomarker and therapeutic target in diabetic cardiomyopathy November 8th, 2024
Discoveries
Breaking carbon–hydrogen bonds to make complex molecules November 8th, 2024
Exosomes: A potential biomarker and therapeutic target in diabetic cardiomyopathy November 8th, 2024
Turning up the signal November 8th, 2024
Nanofibrous metal oxide semiconductor for sensory face November 8th, 2024
Materials/Metamaterials/Magnetoresistance
Nanoscale CL thermometry with lanthanide-doped heavy-metal oxide in TEM March 8th, 2024
Focused ion beam technology: A single tool for a wide range of applications January 12th, 2024
Announcements
Nanotechnology: Flexible biosensors with modular design November 8th, 2024
Exosomes: A potential biomarker and therapeutic target in diabetic cardiomyopathy November 8th, 2024
Turning up the signal November 8th, 2024
Nanofibrous metal oxide semiconductor for sensory face November 8th, 2024
Patents/IP/Tech Transfer/Licensing
Getting drugs across the blood-brain barrier using nanoparticles March 3rd, 2023
Metasurfaces control polarized light at will: New research unlocks the hidden potential of metasurfaces August 13th, 2021
Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Announces Closing of Agreement with Takeda November 27th, 2020
Energy
KAIST researchers introduce new and improved, next-generation perovskite solar cell November 8th, 2024
Unveiling the power of hot carriers in plasmonic nanostructures August 16th, 2024
Groundbreaking precision in single-molecule optoelectronics August 16th, 2024
Development of zinc oxide nanopagoda array photoelectrode: photoelectrochemical water-splitting hydrogen production January 12th, 2024
Home
Nanomaterials enable dual-mode heating and cooling device: Device could cut HVAC energy use by nearly 20% in the US December 2nd, 2020
Bosch Sensortec launches ideation community to foster and accelerate innovative IoT applications : Creativity hub for customers, partners, developers and makers February 18th, 2019
Iran Develops Water-Repellent Nano-Paint December 5th, 2018
Industrial
Boron nitride nanotube fibers get real: Rice lab creates first heat-tolerant, stable fibers from wet-spinning process June 24th, 2022
Nanotubes: a promising solution for advanced rubber cables with 60% less conductive filler June 1st, 2022
Protective equipment with graphene nanotubes meets the strictest ESD safety standards March 25th, 2022
OCSiAl receives the green light for Luxembourg graphene nanotube facility project to power the next generation of electric vehicles in Europe March 4th, 2022
Solar/Photovoltaic
KAIST researchers introduce new and improved, next-generation perovskite solar cell November 8th, 2024
Groundbreaking precision in single-molecule optoelectronics August 16th, 2024
Development of zinc oxide nanopagoda array photoelectrode: photoelectrochemical water-splitting hydrogen production January 12th, 2024
Shedding light on unique conduction mechanisms in a new type of perovskite oxide November 17th, 2023
 |
||
 |
||
| The latest news from around the world, FREE | ||
 |
||
|
|
||
| Premium Products | ||
 |
||
|
Only the news you want to read!
Learn More |
||
 |
||
|
Full-service, expert consulting
Learn More |
||
|
|
||