New plant-based, antimicrobial, spray-on coating keeps food fresh

Plastic wraps and containers may be great at preserving food, but they generate huge amounts of waste that can end up in the environment. Researchers at Harvard and Rutgers have developed a new plant-based, antimicrobial coating that can be sprayed ont… Continue reading New plant-based, antimicrobial, spray-on coating keeps food fresh

Tuneable smart window coating traps heat in winter, reflects it in summer

Windows may be important for letting natural light and warmth into a room, but sometimes they let in too much, or let your artificial warmth out instead. Researchers at Oxford have developed a new smart window coating that can be tuned on the fly to em… Continue reading Tuneable smart window coating traps heat in winter, reflects it in summer

“Impossible” 2D material is light as plastic and stronger than steel

Engineers at MIT have developed a new ultrathin material that’s as light as plastic but stronger than steel. The durable material could be used in vehicles or electronics, and makes use of a manufacturing technique that was previously thought impossibl… Continue reading “Impossible” 2D material is light as plastic and stronger than steel

Smart roof coating reflects heat in summer and traps it in winter

Berkeley Lab engineers have developed a roof coating that can keep a building warmer or cooler, depending on the weather. When it’s warm out, the material will reflect sunlight and heat, but this radiative cooling automatically switches off in winter, … Continue reading Smart roof coating reflects heat in summer and traps it in winter

Simple Tip Helps with Powder Coating Perfection on Difficult Parts

To say that that the commercially available garden path lights commonly available at dollar stores are cheap is a vast overstatement of their true worthlessness. These solar-powered lights are so …read more Continue reading Simple Tip Helps with Powder Coating Perfection on Difficult Parts

Thin Coatings Require an Impressive Collection of Equipment and Know-How

Let’s be honest — not too many of us have a need to deposit nanometer-thick films onto substrates in a controlled manner. But if you do find yourself in such …read more Continue reading Thin Coatings Require an Impressive Collection of Equipment and Know-How

Black phosphorus coating kills superbugs then self-destructs

Bacteria are becoming more and more dangerous, as they evolve resistance to our best drugs. New weapons against these so-called “superbugs” are desperately needed. Now, researchers at RMIT have developed a coating that quickly kills bacteria and fungi,… Continue reading Black phosphorus coating kills superbugs then self-destructs

Optical coating reflects and transmits the same wavelength of light

Materials get their optical properties based on how much they reflect, absorb or transmit different wavelengths (colors) of light. Usually optical coatings either reflect or transmit a given color of light, but now researchers at the University of Roch… Continue reading Optical coating reflects and transmits the same wavelength of light

Two-faced nanoparticles help make stickier, more water-repellent paint

Researchers in the US and UK have found a new way to improve paints and coatings, by adding “two-faced” nanoparticles. With one face that attracts water and another that repels it, the particles arranged themselves into a flat layer on a painted surfac… Continue reading Two-faced nanoparticles help make stickier, more water-repellent paint

Titanium Coating Is Actually Pretty Straightforward

[Justin] enjoys tinkering in his home lab, working on a wide variety of experiments. Recently, he’d found much success in coating objects with thin layers of various metals with the help of a DC sputtering magnetron. However, titanium simply wouldn’t work with this setup. Instead, [Justin] found another way.

As …read more

Continue reading Titanium Coating Is Actually Pretty Straightforward