CMU School of Drama


Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Hydrophobic Nanocoating vs. Household Objects

Tested: Hydrophobic nano-coatings like Liquipel have the potential to be the Next Big Thing for electronics. We were impressed with Liquipel at CES 2013. Who wouldn't want a smartphone impervious to the threats of rain and an accidental drop in the ocean (or a toilet)? While Liquipel is focused on electronics, there are other companies selling waterproof nanocoatings for other purposes. Like--just for example--ketchup resistance.

9 comments:

seangroves71 said...

Im legitimately tempted to purchase some for myself and treat my durango's. Its unfortunate though that it leaves a whitish haze but its still a very impressive product. Im surprised though that this product has not been put into more practice in paint shops or even our shop tables. the question now is whether or not once treated this makes a product more flammable

Akiva said...

This stuff is really impressive, and it seems like there are many uses that we could find to use this spray in theatre. I check the website that sells the stuff and it's really really expensive. So I don't know if it really can be used by theatres right now. Maybe in a few years the manufacturing will become cheaper and the theatre industry will be able to use it. The whitish haze that sean talked about is something that I noticed too. This haze will probably be a problem if the spray is used on stage under stage lights. Let's hope that one day this tech becomes usable by theatre, because it has a lot of potential.

E Young Choi said...

This is absolutely amazing! During the entire moment watching this video, I was fascinated by how much a science can make some kind of magical work. I felt that this product can not only make stuff clean, keeping an object from getting dirty, but also can be used in theatrical or artistic way. One could used this to paint after applying this product on certain area. Also, one could use it to create a special effect during a show to impress the audience. Like the bouncing drops of water particles, this would be a nice effect that can be used in theatrical area. I hope one day I could have a chance to use this potential product.

april said...

That was so incredible! Why has that not spread like wild fire!! I realize it is rather costly but it would be worth it with the amount of thing that would be ruin-resistant. Not to mention what a time saver that would be on so many projects or even just house hold chores! The uses are endless, it seems like it could be quite beneficial in the military or even in hospitals. Or in flood prone areas to protect houses and such.
All these new inventions we keep seeing are amazing. I would think that as far as we have come along on the technology front it would be hard to make many more substantial discoveries, but I would be very wrong. Its crazy to think about what else could be out there that we just have not figured out yet.

Unknown said...

This specific brand looks a little dangerous what with the fumes. But stuff like this is becoming more common and hopefully we will soon have a cheap household version that is applicable without a gas mask gloves and someway to get the fumes out of your apartment/house. I would love to be able to coat things with this or similar substances though. Especially clothing and the one suit I own. Getting food or stains out of or off of clothing is a pain I would much prefer it if it just bounced off.

Jason Lewis said...

Why didn't anyone show me this before the winter! My life could've been made so much easier once the snow came.

Besides that, this is absolutely brilliant! I don't know how anyone can come up with stuff like this, but I find it revolutionary! It's things like this and 3D printing that are changing our world for the better!

And let's be real, with this product, so many people will stop having miserable days. At least that will be the case once this product becomes more easily accessible economically with the general public.

AlexxxGraceee said...

THIS IS SOOOOOOO COOOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! what would happen if you coated your self in this stuff!!! you'd probably die from heat cause you couldn't sweat. but the idea is just so interesting! ive never seen anything repel water so amazingly. the amount of things this stuff could be applied to is absolutely infinite. It probably causes cancer or has some adverse effects but honestly this would be so handy for so many things. The only down side ive noticed is the cloudy look that it seems to give objects. This might be a turn off for some people but the majority of things youd use this for is generally not something you need ascetics for.

Hunter said...

I found this product a few months ago and thought it was fantastic. One use ive found for a similar product is hydrophobic coating electronic devices. There is a company that has a non conductive completely transparent version of this and you can pay them to take your phone and take it apart and they will coat it in the hydrophobic solution and put it back together making your phone effectively waterproof which I know would be an extremely useful thing for the portion of the population that always seems to be dropping their phone in the toilet.

Unknown said...

I saw this video a few weeks ago on another blog and was pretty fascinated. Aside from wanting to coat my boots and tools and everything under the sun with it, I wonder to what extents it might be used for art installations and theatrical applications. I also wonder if it can be mixed into a paint much like poly-acrylic sealer can be to cut down on the steps in painting but still protect your show floor. Most importantly on shows that contain water and blood like Spring Awakening.