- In tests, researchers mixed water with oil and poured the mixture onto the mesh. The water filtered through the mesh to land in a beaker below. The oil collected on top of the mesh, and rolled off easily into a separate beaker when the mesh was tilted.
- The mesh coating is among a suite of nature-inspired nanotechnologies under development at Ohio State and described in two papers in the journal Scientific Reports. Potential applications range from cleaning oil spills to tracking oil deposits underground.
- Because the coating is only a few hundred nanometers (billionths of a meter) thick, it is mostly undetectable. To the touch, the coated mesh doesn't feel any bumpier than uncoated mesh. The coated mesh is a little less shiny, though, because the coating is only 70 percent transparent.
Share This Article