Not as Good as Spit

Purdue scientists working with polymers say they've developed "eco-friendly coatings" that can be applied in industrial and household settings to create surfaces that resist oil and can be cleaned with plain water, reducing the need for heavy duty detergents or solvents.

Greenerdesign, in its story, noted that the polymer coatings, which can be applied to surfaces including glass and concrete, are 20,000 times thinner than a human hair and have two key layers: A bottom layer of polyethylene glycol, which attracts water, and an upper layer of a Teflon-like molecule that repels oil.

So when oil, whether in a machine shop or a kitchen, comes in contact with a concrete floor or a countertop coated with the substance, the surface resists the oil while attracting the water. It was also discovered that the polymer could be used to prevent fogging either by coating a surface with it or adding it to a product.

"It worked better than the commercial defogger, but not as good as spit," noted Jeffrey Youngblood, an assistant professor of Materials Engineering at Purdue University.

While there are patents related to spit, and patent lawsuits over spitting, I’m guessing one could probably not get a patent on spit itself. My partner does the IP stuff, so I might be wrong.

Tags » Clean Tech Planet

12 October 2009
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Not as Good as Spit

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