TAGS: Automotive Coatings Smart Coatings
A team led by Youfa Zhang of Southeast University, China, has discovered they can create a simple paint that mimics the way a beetle's skin both attracts water and then repels it towards its mouth – allowing it to hydrate in even the most arid of environments.
Solving the Problem of Water-shortage
The new system could produce ultra-fog resistant car windows and faster drainage systems. The bumpy skin of a desert beetle has inspired the creation of a new device that can harvest fresh drinking water out of thin air.
The design of the hybrid coating was inspired by the structure of the desert beetle's back, but the new coating will have better performance, meaning water vapor can condensate very quickly on the coating and can also leave the surface very fast, leaving the surface ready to collect more water.
No Power Needed for Water Collection
By coating two facing surfaces with this paint, condensed water trapped in air can be 'bounced' together into droplets, resulting in them falling into a collection vessel below. And because the system is passive, it doesn’t need power to collect the water.
Dr. Zhang said, "
About two-thirds of the world's population suffers from a serious water crisis, and about 10% of the world’s freshwater resources are stored in the air. Being able to extract this water from the air in areas affected by drought has long been an ambition of scientists around the world."
In recent years, the supply of freshwater resources has been a severe global challenge, and this research result can be applied to water collection and contribute to solve the problem of water shortage.
Source: Royal Society of Chemistry