With GE's new plastic, self-washing buildings, cheap diagnostic chips, and free-flowing honey jars are possible.
If you've ever despaired over getting the last drop of ketchup or detergent out of a plastic bottle -- or happen to be a microfluidics researcher wondering how you'll ever mass-produce a cheap diagnostics chip -- scientists at GE may have a plastic for you.
Company researchers have come up with a way to process a common polymer so that it repels fluid, even drops of honey roll right off. The resulting property is called "superhydrophobicity" -- or extreme repelling of water-based fluids -- beyond even that of a freshly waxed car.
[Click here to view images.]
While several existing engineered materials behave this way, the GE accomplishment is noteworthy because it was done with an inexpensive plastic, GE's Lexan, that's normally "hydrophilic," meaning water spreads out on contact, not something that's "hydrophobic" to start with, such as Teflon or silicone-based materials. These latter materials are far more expensive compared with Lexan, a ubiquitous thermoplastic used in products ranging from CDs and DVDs to automotive headlamps, food storage containers, and common household appliances.
While GE is not predicting specific applications yet, a few are theoretically possible. A cheap superhydrophobic plastic could be used in food containers from which every last bit of ketchup or syrup would flow right out. It could also allow for a building panel that repels water so efficiently that rain would wash away dirt -- making it essentially self-cleaning.
Such a material could be a bonanza for medicine, too. In the field of microfluidics, superhydrophobic materials are needed so that tiny volumes of blood or other body fluids can flow more easily through micrometer-scale channels. Although some superhydrophobic materials are currently available, they're expensive enough to preclude visions of diagnostic gadgets that you could buy in a drugstore. A cheap plastic, though, could make such a disposable diagnostic chip feasible. "It is a big deal and it is important for the microfluidics applications," says Neelesh Patankar, a mechanical engineer and microfluidics at Northwestern University.
New chemistry and microsurfaces have led to super oil-repellent materials that are self-cleaning.
A leading venture capitalist says corporations are too slow and timid to capitalize on their own inventions.
Guest (ptinfrance)
how safe is the "chemical treatment of the surface" and how much consideration was taken into account with regard to plastics and the environment?
Guest (DamnCorps)
No honey or ketchup applications?
Unless this is cheaper than normal plastic, why would food companies use it when it lets us get more out of our ketchup bottle and buy new ketchup less often?
Guest (Dirty Car Guy)
The heck with self-cleaning buildings... give me a self-cleaning car.
Guest (agb)
Maybe not self-cleaning buildings
Self-cleaning building materials currently rely on hydrophyllic properties to make water 'sheet' across the surface, carrying away particles of dirt. Superhydrophobic surfaces run counter to this function by preventing water from reaching all areas of the surface, unless they are so 'non-stick' that soot and dust and bird droppings won't even stick to them.
. . . clean my car . . .
Is translucency of Lexan impaired?
If not, "clean my car's windshield"; Please!
1. Countless hours would be saved:
Scraping Ice, 'flow of rainwater from windshield surface, inner-surface 'fog free'!
2. Safety . . . obscured vision precipitated
via 'precipitation' would no longer be a
factor!
And,
3. Sadly, for the Windshield 'Wiper Blade'
industry . . . As rain/sleet/snow begin to
obscure one's vision; these words would
never again be heard :
"Rats!'
"I forgot to replace my 'wiper blades'!"
4. No exposure to inclement weather, as one
wrestles with and attempts some remedy for
one's obscured view! And, at least a reduced
exposure to the possibility of an errant,
motorist 'putting out one's lights!
Roy Stewart,
Phoenix AZ, USA
Guest (Azita)
how about long term effect? would the surface-roughening have to be renewed occasionally?
Guest (Bathroom)
Use it for my bathtub & Shower
I wish they get this thing out and put it in my bath tub and shower. If all the water would just drip off the shower wall, it would save alot of time having to clean the residue left by the water on the wall.
And if the water would just drain off, there would be no standing water for the molds and mildew to grow on. This would be the greatest thing there is for my bathroom.
Guest (Brad)
How does superhydrophobic plastics compare to commonly used P-tex or Tyflon?
Guest (trevor)
Guest (Zahid Ahmad Khan)
Guest (Sweet Smells)
If this is true then why not coat the inside of the sewage pipes in the house. No more blocked pipes with smelly sewage as it would just do what the drains were designed for and slip on down to the public sewage station. Then again what about all the jobs from the "We-Unblock-U" companies....
Guest (Mauricio Pinto)
Water-repellent coatings for electronic components
Can we dissolve or add this material to a printable coating formulation?
Guest (rich)
This will change the standards of materials used to create snow-based sporting equipment such as skiis, sleds and anything else that needs wax to make it more "superhydrophobic" . . .
Guest (Anthony Johnson)
The technology is excellent. But what exactly is Lexan
Guest (Giulia)
Hey, How long will it last before losing it' hydrophobic or hydrophillic properties
is this technology currently being used in any hospital applications? if so examples would be appreshated. or any information thanks
is such a material bio degrageiable? does its properties change with heat or time? information neededm thanks
Dynamically super hydrophobic material: with a hydrophobic material, it would in theory be possible to create a flat meniscus at the surface of a fluid in a container. What about the sea? If you could alter the hydrophobic nature of the material to maintain a perfectly (ish) flat surface for a boat to run on, would that not be amazing for transport?
James
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Guest (Ali D)
how bout for other usages?
this technology could be used for many other applications. Even for water transport, having a boat made from this kind of material could enable greater speeds due to the drop in water drag. This would also give the boat a more efficient use of its fuel. the ideas could go on. Thanks for the interesting article.
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