The Future of Waterproofing

One of the most interesting aspects of nanotechnology that it has the ability to change the wettability of surfaces. This can come in handy for car paint surfaces, windshields, rainproof clothing, umbrellas, and electronics. All of these products can be made better by the additional layer of super-hydrophobic nano particles.

LiquidOff contains no toxic chemicals or aerosols
that can be harmful to your health. 

Liquipel and Never Wet are two technology companies that I have previously mentioned that offer coatings that can turn ordinary surfaces into super-hydrophobic surfaces. The added benefit here is cell phones, which are water proof, or clothing that resists stains, dirt and mud. Relatively new to the market is a technology called LiquidOff which offers the same super-hydrophobic properties, but contains no toxic chemicals or aerosols that can be harmful to your health (Digital Trends). There are other uses that we are just beginning to scratch the surface of that offer added benefit to consumers and can improve the lives of everyone that uses the technology. An example of an application that isn’t being used that could utilize super-hydrophic nano particles would be to stripe freeways lines with a heavy application of the particles. Under rain storms the stripes would be easier to distinguish and would help keep people in their lanes. This would help promote safety, reduce accidents and save lives… All of this is possible through a simple application of super-hydrophobic particles. The main problem here is durability and longevity, both of which are issues that I believe can be solved as we learn more about how to work with these coatings.

Speedo's LZR swimsuit utilizes super-hydrophobic panels to reduce total drag. Trapped air also increases the swimmers overall buoyancy.

Other applications of super-hydrophobic surfaces are more straightforward and obvious. This is most apparent in the case of swimsuits which feature super-hydrophobic coatings to help reduce drag and to increase buoyancy of the users. These swimsuits such as Speedo’s LZR broke so many records that the Olympic committee had no other choice but to ban the use of the suits and to dictate that future suits be air-permeable. The Olympic committee also reduced the total surface are of the swimsuit on men meaning that the competition comes down to the athlete and not their tools. This has always been the vision of the Olympic games, but none the less the technology sparks interesting possibilities of how we can uses these surfaces and coatings in our every day lives. Few of us will ever compete in the Olympics, but almost everyone could benefit from a bathing suit, which is instantly, dry once out of the water.

HzO won an award in CES 2012 Innovations 

Design Engineering for this nano coating technology

Every smart phone on earth could also be instantly improved if it’s water repellent capabilities were increased. Companies like HzO and Liquipel "will be using vapour deposition process to overcome water damages in smartphones by providing the coatings in form of thin films (Techmezine)." This should be common sense at this point for manufacturers, but our technology is advancing so rapidly that there doesn’t seem to be enough consumer outcry and demand, even though everyone hates having to replace a phone after dropping it in water or accidentally sending it though the washing machine.

Every year these coatings will get better and we will find more applications. It is amazing how far we have come, but we still have a long way to go until everything is waterproof.

Resources:
Liquipel. “What is Liquipel? How does it work?." <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jedv15ov3sw>. YouTube. YouTube, 27 Oct. 2011. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.

Prindle, Drew. “This new hydrophobic coating is completely non-toxic and fabric-friendly.” Digital Trends. Digital Drends,  16 Jun 2014. Web. 30 Nov 2015.<http://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/liquidoff-super-hydrophobic-spray-thats-completely-non-toxic-fabric-friendly/>.

“Smartphones to more reliable waterproof smartphones.” TechmeZine. TechmeZine, 28 Oct 2015. Web. 30 Nov 2015. <http://www.techmezine.com/electronics-news/smartphones-to-more-reliable-waterproof-smartphones/>.

Zarda, Brett. “Putting The Kibosh On Swimsuit Tech.” Popular Science. Popular Science, 3 Apr 2009, Web. 30 Nov 2015. <http://www.popsci.com/entertainment-amp-gaming/article/2009-04/putting-kibosh-swimsuit-tech>.