American scientists recently developed a new type of laser etching technology. Waterproof material The droplet that falls on the surface can be directly shot away.

The study was led by Chunle Guo, an optical physicist from University of Rochester in New York. They use laser to etch micro patterns of micro and nano scale on the metal surface, so that the material surface has very strong repellency or drainage characteristics. When water drips onto such a surface, it will be rejected and rebounded directly. The research results were published in the January 20th issue of the Journal of Applied Physics.

Compared with typical chemical coatings or coatings, the surface of such materials is more waterproof and not easy to wear. The flat bottomed nonstick pot used in our life is polytetrafluoroethylene film. The surface coated with PTFE needs to be tilted to 70 degrees to make the water flow away, and the tilting angle of the new material does not exceed 5 degrees.

In addition, this special surface has a strong self-cleaning property. When the droplet is blown away from its surface, it also carries away the dust that falls on the surface.

In order to test its self-cleaning function, the researchers used a vacuum cleaner to spray dust on the surface of the material. The experiment found that only 3 drops of water can remove half of the dust particles on the surface of the material, and 12 drops of water can successfully remove all the dust, while the surface of the material is completely dry and spotless.

In developing this new material surface, the research team used powerful but very short laser pulses to etch platinum, titanium or brass surfaces. Although each laser pulse lasts only about 10 million 1/100000000 seconds, the peak power is equivalent to that of the whole North American power grid.

The application prospect and imagination space of this waterproof material is very broad: it can be used on the surface of aircraft wings to prevent the ice from freezing when the aircraft flies. It can be used on the surface of the automobile so that the owners do not need to wash the car again. They can even be used to develop toilets without washing, and give welfare to the water deficient areas in Africa.

In addition, the researchers also used the same laser etching pattern technology to blacken the metal. Material Science The surface has both good absorbance characteristics and is applied to solar panels, which is neither waterproof nor clean.

Of course, at present, this technology faces many challenges, such as etching the length of 1 inches (2.5 centimeters) by laser on the metal surface, which takes 1 hours. In the future, the team will try to apply this method to non-metallic materials. If it can be realized, then completely waterproof, self cleaning roofs, tents, clothes And so on.