A revolutionary new laser method for etching metals resulted in the development of super water repelling material.
It makes water droplets bounce off it, taking all dust particles with them, a property that gives huge promises to the solar panel industry.
We all know that to maintain solar panels as efficient as they are designed to be, the key is to keep them clean and dry. To date, many research teams around the world, together with engineers and designers, have come up with various technologies and substances that can provide a relatively fast, effective and hopefully manual labor-free solution to rusting and pollution.
However, no coating or a mechanical cleaning system has claimed to give such great results as the new water-repelling material developed by scientists from University of Rochester in New York. Created from small pieces of platinum, titanium and brass, reshaped using high-powered laser, the new material’s water-repelling properties are so powerful that it makes the droplets bounce back as soon as the hit the surface. While the droplets “jump” on the surface, they pick up dust particles with them until eventually they leave, or slide off, the surface.
What makes this new material different from any existing chemically-based alternatives, is the fact that it is not a superhydrophobic coating on a surface, and therefore its use does not change the shape of the metal surface, as the coatings do. According to the inventors, the key was hidden in the use of the special laser instrument.
In a bit more detail, the laser sends short but very intense pulses of beams that engrave grooves into the metals, which then results in tiny nanostructures that cover the grooves. After their first contact with air, these nanostructures prevent the surface from ever becoming wet or dusty.
The water repelling technology is perfectly suitable for use on solar panels, especially because their efficiency and lifespan depends on how dry and clean the surfaces are. However, this is not the only application that the makers see. It can serve purpose in in various fields from medical and sanitary, all the way to developing easy-cleaning and rain-water collection system.
It does indeed sound nice, but I guess before it can hit any large scale production, the scientists will have to come up with a cheaper alternatives to the metals they use. In any case, it does seem like a nice trick, and a stepping stone for further research and development.
The findings appear in the latest issue of the Journal of Applied Physics.
Image (c) University of Rochester
