The Shark's Paintbrush by Jay Harman

Author:Jay Harman
Format: epub
Publisher: Perseus Books, LLC
Published: 2013-06-26T16:00:00+00:00

From left to right: lotus flower, nanostructures on lotus leaf

Water has adhesion properties. It likes to stick to itself and to other objects. It also likes to live in droplets and spreads out to wet something only if enough of its surface comes in contact with another surface. A superhydrophobic effect is when microsized structures lift water above the surface of leaves, like lotus or kale, preventing it from dispersing and saturating.

More than three hundred thousand buildings in Europe have already been painted with Lotusan, a self-cleaning paint manufactured by Sto AG of Germany and its North American subsidiary, Sto Corp. By reducing water’s and microorganisms’ tendency to stick in the microscopic cracks of building surfaces, Lotusan paint not only keeps buildings cleaner but reduces the buildup of mold and algae, cutting maintenance costs and increasing the life of the paint job. The effect is also being applied to glass-encased, optical toll-bridge sensors on German highways to reduce the buildup of dirt. Numerous other applications are under development, including the prevention of rain, ice, and snow accumulation on microwave antennas. Just how effective is the Lotus Effect? A spoon with a Lotus Effect surface can be dipped into honey and come out totally clean—without a hint of stickiness. As just one example, perhaps we could reduce the need for high water use and environmentally damaging detergents in dishwashers by keeping our plates and utensils cleaner to begin with.

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