New Super-Hydrophobic Material Could Revolutionize the Water Repellent Market

Scientists at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory of the Department of Energy under the lead of John Simpson developed a new super-hydrophobic type of material. It is easy and rather inexpensive to fabricate and has limitless commercial application possibilities. The material can be applied in areas where traditional water repellent materials either cannot be or are too expensive to be used.

The material is ORNL nano-structured. According to Simpson it is a "glass powder coating material," which can be applied to any surface. It repels any water-based solution by creating a layer of air on the surface it is applied to. This layer of air is microscopically thin, but remains, even if the object is under water.

This kind of durability is greatly different from traditional water repellent materials, which are usually made of expensive materials and have poor water repellent quality. Furthermore, the process to create these traditional materials is rather difficult and costly. Thus, traditional water repellent materials are impractical and/or too expensive for a wide variety of commercial uses. This would be different with the new material.

The water repellent glass powder material developed by the team of scientists under the lead of Simpson is easy to produce. The production process involves differential etching of two glass phases from phase-separated glass. The process starts out with a borosilicate phase in which the glass is separated as the base material, which is then heated for further separation. The result is crushed into powder. Then the powder is differentially etched in order to completely eliminate the interconnected borate glass phase. Lastly, the powder is treated with a special hydrophobic solution, which makes the glass surface hydrophobic. Through the differential etching the glass powder becomes porous and has nanoscale sharpened features. According to Simpson, this makes the powder "unwettable." Water cannot pass through the coat of glass powder material.

Only small amounts of the powder are needed to waterproof a fairly large surface area. Because of the low costs involved in manufacturing and applying the product, it could find a multitude of commercial applications.

The powder is not only a good water repellent by not letting any water through. The dry air trapped by the coat of glass powder material also creates a thermal insulation. Furthermore, corrosion through water exposure could be eliminated through an application of the material. Additionally, the powder could also serve as an electrical insulator because it is based on porous amorphous silica.