United States. A new technology developed at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, allows us to see how pollutants such as ice, fingerprints and graffiti lose their control over a wide range of surfaces.
Discovered by researchers Guojun Liu and Xiong Dean, the coating has exhibited characteristics to repel water and unwanted oil-based deposits on multiple surfaces such as glass, metal, wood, ceramics, plastics and fibers.
"Our discovery was inspired by the lotus leaf, which has given us a wonderful example of a self-cleaning system, designed by nature," said Liu, a Canadian research professor in Materials Science.
Lorama Inc., a manufacturer and supplier of new additives to the paint and coatings industry, is working with researchers and Parteq Inovations, the university's technology transfer office, to commercialize the technology to a wide range of uses, including anti-graffiti, anti-ice, anti-fingerprint or stain and anti-fouling.
