Posted 07.16.2009 at 9:45 am
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A Lotus Leaf Repels Cold Droplets, But Hot Water Sinks Through
Yuyang Liu and Royal Society of Chemistry
Anyone who's ever spilled a hot beverage in his or her lap will be happy to hear that chemists at the University of Minnesota have announced a scaldproof fabric.
Water-resistant fabric, of course, has already existed for some time -- but its impermeability applies only to cool liquids. Hot coffee, scalding soup, and other liquids above a certain temperature, on the other hand, seep right through water-resistant cloth.
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Science, Anna Maria Jakubek, burns, carbon nanotubes, clothing, coffee, fabric, leaves, nanotech, teflon, waterproof fabricWith scalding liquids, however, problems set in: not only do they cause the waxy coating to melt, but hot water also drives away the air. What's more, hot water drops are able to make their way into smaller nooks in the surface. Classically water-resistant surfaces, like the leaves above, succumb to hot water, letting it ooze through without resistance.
Well aware of the above research and of recent studies pointing to the water-resilient properties of carbon nanotubes, the team of chemists at the University of Minnesota created a cocktail of carbon nanotubes, Teflon, and cotton fabric. This fabric successfully repels hot water, milk, coffee, and tea at 167 °F.
[via NewScientist.com]
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It sounds interesting but I was thinking about this last week and it raises certain questions. Like who would literally go through all the trouble to wear special clothes just to drink a cup of coffee? I actually first read this on http://coffeemakereviews.com/ and whilst I do think it's a cool step forward, I'm not going to suit up at 7am in the morning to drink a cuppa.