Using waste products of the petroleum and refining industries, researchers have created an absorbent polymer that can quickly soak up crude oil and diesel from sea water.
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Our phones follow us everywhere – which often puts them in the line of fire for spilt drinks or rain. But now a team at the University of Michigan has developed a durable, clear coating that could help phones – or any surface, for that matter – repel almost any liquid.
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When it comes to naturally repelling things, the humble cicada seems to have a few tricks up its sleeve. Now scientists have zeroed in on the insect's ability to repel water, which could provide inspiration for anti-icing and self-cleaning materials further down the track.
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To make water repellent coatings that are a self-healing, a team of scientists led by Jürgen Rühe at the University of Freiburg in Germany has come up with a superhydrophobic that sheds its outer skin like a snake to repair itself after being damaged.
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Soon we could start to see a new class of waterproof products that stay hydrophobic for the long haul. That's thanks to a breakthrough by University of Michigan researchers to create a water-repellent spray-on coating they claim is hundreds of times more durable than similar substances.
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There are already processes that allow materials to become superomniphobic – repellant to liquids including oils. Wouldn't it be easier, however, if there was just a superomniphobic tape one could apply? Well, now there is.
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Most superhydrophobic coatings aren't overly durable, meaning their water repelling properties can be easily lost. Now ANU scientists have developed a new spray-on superhydrophobic coating that is much more robust than existing solutions and low-cost to manufacture and apply.
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When an oil spill occurs on water, one way of cleaning up that spill involves the use of materials which soak up the oil. Those won't be very effective, however, if they absorb both oil and water. That's why scientists have turned to nature, resulting in a fern-inspired material known as Nanofur.
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Those last stubborn drops of ketchup, shampoo or honey are practically impossible to retrieve from a near-empty bottle. Advanced nonstick coatings are threatening to put an end to this unavoidable wastage, and a new coating made from edible wax is shaping up as a high-potential candidate.
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Generally, water repellent objects and those that attract or absorb water have very different microscopic-level attributes. Now researchers have discovered a way to use a single type of material to perform both functions, switching between the two simply by applying electric current.
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