Spray-on Coating tagged posts

Spray-on Clear Coatings for Cheaper Smart Windows

Square sample of clear coating, held by tweezers, on a green leafy background
The ultra-thin clear coatings are made with a new spray-on method that is fast, cost-effective and scalable.

New transparent spray-on coatings are conductive, cost-effective and rival the performance of current industry standards. A simple method for making clear coatings that can block heat and conduct electricity could radically cut the cost of energy-saving smart windows and heat-repelling glass.

The spray-on coatings developed by researchers at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, are ultra-thin, cost-effective and rival the performance of current industry standards for transparent electrodes.

Combining the best properties of glass and metals in a single component, a transparent electrode is a highly conductive clear coating that allows visible light through.

The coati...

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Spray-on Coating could Ice-Proof Airplanes, Power Lines, Windshields

Kevin Golovin, a graduate student in MSE at U-M, demonstrates a new rubbery material that can create ice repelling, or "icephobic," coatings on a variety of materials, such as windshields or ship hulls. Photo by: Evan Dougherty

On your car windshield, ice is a nuisance. But on an airplane, a wind turbine, an oil rig or power line, it can be downright dangerous. And removing it with the methods that are available today – usually chemical melting agents or labor-intensive scrapers and hammers – is difficult and expensive work.

That could soon change thanks to a durable, inexpensive ice-repellent coating developed by University of Michigan researchers. Thin, clear and slightly rubbery to the touch, the spray-on formula could make ice slide off equipment, airplanes and car windshields with only the force of gravity or a gentle breeze. This could have major implications in industries like energy, shipping and transportation, where ice is a constant problem in cold climates.

The new coating could also lead to big ener...

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