Distinctive Innovation: The Discovery Of New Materials For Plasma Coatings&# 34; Can Be Replaced By Ordinary Paint

These metal butterfly artworks each have a plasma coating inspired by butterflies

Under the leadership of Professor Debashis Chanda, scientists at the University of Central Florida replicated this phenomenon in an experimental "plasma coating".

In addition to a commercial adhesive liquid (a polymer resin and isopropanol), it contains tiny mirror aluminum sheets that are coated on even smaller alumina particles. Depending on the size and spacing of these nanoparticles, the flakes appear cyan, magenta, or yellow. Various paint tones can be produced by mixing flakes of different primary colors in different proportions.

According to Chanda, compared with the synthetic pigments currently used in traditional paints, the aluminum used in paints is much less harmful to the environment. In addition, although these pigments gradually lose their ability to absorb photons over time - leading to a darkened appearance - nanostructured sheets should be able to produce the same bright colors indefinitely.

More importantly, due to its large area thickness ratio, only a small amount of plasma coating can be effectively applied on the surface. For example, the university said that only about 3 pounds (1.4 kilograms) of paint can be used to coat a 747 jumbo jet, while more than 1000 pounds (454 kilograms) of traditional paint is required to complete the same work. This officially makes proton coating the lightest coating in the world.

Finally, because the paint reflects the entire infrared spectrum, it absorbs very little heat. Therefore, it is said that the temperature of the bottom surface is 25 to 30 o F (14 to 17 o C) higher than that of the traditional paint with the same color.

Chanda said: "In the United States, more than 10% of the total electricity is used for air conditioning." The temperature difference promised by proton coating will lead to significant energy savings. Using less electricity for cooling will also reduce carbon dioxide emissions and reduce global warming. "

At present, the manufacturing cost of proton coatings produced in the laboratory is higher than that of pigment coatings produced in mass production. It is hoped that once the technology is expanded to the level of commercial production, this will not be the case.

The research was described in a paper recently published in the journal Progress of Science.