Waterproof Material That Can Rebound Water Droplets

The technology was developed by Julie Crockett, a professor of mechanical engineering, Brigham Young University, Utah, and his colleague, Dan Maynes.

Crockett says, "make super.

You can't just make a waterproof cover or waterproof wax, you must add some structure.

Lotus leaves are very good in nature, so we are constantly imitating lotus leaves in the laboratory.

The form of super waterproof surface is varied.

In her lab, they used the bone cavity structure and made the base structure. The water droplets sat on it like a ball.

When water drops on Professor Crockett's super waterproof surface, it spreads like ordinary drops of water.

But unlike ordinary water droplets, this waterproof surface allows scattered droplets to gather together until they are ejected from the surface.

Crockett explains that the attraction between water molecules is larger than that between water molecules and the material, so they gather back to their original form before they pass through the material.

"Traditional waterproof materials used

The form is to protect the surface, and what we need to do is super waterproof surface, so we can't just focus on the surface of the beads, we are concerned about the surface of the water.

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It can be used on solar panels to prevent them from becoming dirty and to clean themselves, or to prevent water droplets from splashing in bathrooms, water pipes, toilets and other places.

It can also be used in biomedical fields, such as syringes for injection to patients or some pipe surfaces, as well as hull, torpedo, submarines, etc., and can also prevent wings from freezing under cold or humid conditions.

Looking further ahead, this material can also be used as a cleaner or to make energy more efficient.

"Almost every power station in the country generates steam through the combustion of coal or natural gas to drive turbines to generate electricity. If the condensers of power plants can be made with the ideal super waterproof surface, the speed will obviously increase, saving time, reducing expenses and optimizing energy.

Once the liquid hits the condenser, it will be blown away, so you can cool many gases with very fast and efficient speed.

The invention is published in the Journal of fluid physics.