Paint With No Pigments Invented By Researchers
Inspired by butterflies, paint with no pigment was invented by scientists.
A new paint with no pigment called Plasmonic paint has been invented by researchers at the NanoScience Technology Center at the University of Central Florida. Nanoscale structural arrangements of aluminum and aluminum oxide is how it gets its hues.
Paint on buildings has been a topic for researchers recently because scientists look for ways to keep the heat in cooler regions and out in the warmer regions of the world.
How It works
Normal paints carry pigments that rely on the light absorption properties of molecules to create their colors. The light that is not absorbed is reflected back and seen by the observer and associated with the object’s color.
The paint made by researchers relies on light absorption as well as reflection and scattering of the geometric arrangement of its nanostructures to create a full-color palette. The researchers inspiration for this paint was butterflies.
Researchers replicated these geometric arrangements using nanoscale aluminum and aluminum oxide, making the need for new pigment molecules for different colors nonexistent. The nanoscale flakes can be mixed with a commercial binder and make paints of different hues.
The paints only contain metal and its oxides which means it is environment friendly too. The paint also reflects the entire infrared light spectrum, absorbing less heat. Compared to the normal paints, the plasmonic paint kept surfaces more relaxed by up to 30 degrees Fahrenheit during tests, the researcher added. This temperature difference could also help reduce air conditioning needs inside a building, reducing power consumption and carbon emissions in the long run.
The paint is also very lightweight. The researcher claims that full coloration can be achieved using only 150 nanometers of this paint, making it the lightest paint in the world. While 1,000 pounds of commercial paint would be needed to paint a Boeing 747, only three pounds of plasmonic paint could get the job done.
Related Stories
https://www.jpost.com/business-and-innovation/article-734236
https://www.paintsquare.com/news/view/?26174
https://www.popsci.com/technology/plasmonic-paint-butterflies/
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