Coatings

Industrial pipes carrying water or chemicals invariably get gunked up as deposits accumulate on their internal surfaces. Researchers in Texas have found that lining pipes with lab-grown diamond film can prevent buildup like nothing else.

Cranking up the air conditioner keeps buildings cool, but it guzzles energy. Passive materials can regulate temperatures more efficiently, and now scientists have developed a new coating that keeps glass much cooler, while still being transparent.

Nissan has demonstrated a new automotive paint that can drastically cool a vehicle parked in direct sunshine. Tests have shown that treated cars stay up to 21.6 °F (12 °C) cooler than untreated cars parked side by side.

Using biowaste from cassava plants, scientists have created a coating that virtually eliminates friction in metal parts. The breakthrough has the potential to deliver better fuel economy and deliver enormous savings in myriad industries.

If there's one thing that needs to be antibacterial, it's the public touchscreen displays that everyone paws at with their filthy fingers. Well, help is on the way, in the form of a newly developed copper coating.

Scraping ice off your car window might get a lot easier in the future thanks to a new spray coating developed by scientists in Austria. That's because of the way the molecules line up – or don't – during its high-tech creation process.

Hospitals are meant to heal people, but patients often pick up superbugs during their stay. Scientists have now developed long-lasting antimicrobial coatings for textiles that could allow hospital curtains to quickly kill viruses and bacteria.

Weaning the world off fossil fuels will take time, so finding ways to make energy generation more efficient is still important. A new coating for steam condenser pipes could, if rolled out widely, add more than a Russia’s worth of extra power per year.

Bacteria often get a bad rap, but in many cases they’re helpful little critters. Engineers have now developed a protective coating for buildings that’s loaded with bacteria, which absorb CO2 to produce a barrier against erosion by the elements.

A versatile new material helps in the ongoing battle against corrosion. The polymer coating not only protects against corrosion, but highlights cracks as they form, automatically repairs damage to itself, and can be recycled at the end of its life.

Solar panels can’t operate efficiently if they’re caked in dirt, but cleaning them regularly can be a time-consuming process. Engineers in Germany have now developed an ultra-thin coating that can make solar panels and other surfaces self-cleaning.

While anti-fog sprays work to a certain extent, warming a glass surface is a better way of keeping it fog-free. A new coating material is designed to do so, and it utilizes light-absorbing gold nanoparticles instead of electricity.