5 ms·

A self-repairing surface that stays clean and dry

62 points by jtraffic 9y ago

wuschel 9y ago
Another approach to attack the holy grail of self cleaning surfaces: Damaged surface segments on self cleaning materials form a point of 'dirt crystalization'. From these points, dirt starts to cover the surface. This problem is addressed by Rühe's* paper [1] with a creative "shedding concept". Upon damage, water can access the water soluble glue material upon which the water repelling elements are sitting. The damaged hydrophobic element rinsed away, exposing a fresh hydrophobic element. Unfortunately, the regenerative potential is limited to the number of sacrificial hydrophobic elements. [1] 10.1021/acs.langmuir.7b00814 * Disclaimer: I met Jürgen in a joint group meetings during the Macromolecular Kolloquium in Freiburg. Great to see his name again via HN.. this was such a long time ago!
- jaggederest 9y ago
  That's literally the paper the article summarizes
  - logicallee 9y ago
    to be fair, the article refers to the paper obliquely with the words, "just described in Langmuir by Jürgen Rühe of the University of Freiburg, in Germany." It's not a link and I couldn't find a link in the article - so it's easy to miss. why don't articles like this ever link to their primary sources? online, it just takes a hyperlink - it could be added without any additional comment, just turning a part of the sentence into a link.
- tenken 9y ago
  I'm not convinced anything you wrote ... is actually English! :P Because very little of it makes sense :)
  - abritinthebay 9y ago
    You're getting downvoted but... what doesn't make sense to you? There wasn't a lot in that comment that was super dense. Was it just some of the terms used?
crusso 9y ago
I wouldn't call the surface "self-repairing". It's just an idea to create multiple layers in manufacturing. When one layer breaks down, there are other pre-built layers that can be used. Not nearly as interesting as the title suggests.
- Animats 9y ago
  It's similar to self-sealing fuel tanks in military aircraft. Those have a layer which expands when in contact with fuel, sealing the hole.
- ry_ry 9y ago
  My new mission in life is to build something that follows links, uses ML/NLP to write more accurate titles for articles, and inject the revised headline into the page. "Mildly interesting multi-layer waterproof material tenuously inspired by lizard scales, could last longer than cheaper alternatives." That sort of thing.
  - sand500 9y ago
    Reddit had an article summary bot. Use similar logic and wrap it with a chrome extension.
gitpusher 9y ago
Agree with previous commenters. Interesting, but I can't wait to see materials that truly regenerate – rather than simply providing a buffer against initial damage.

62 points by jtraffic 9y ago

Another approach to attack the holy grail of self cleaning surfaces: Damaged surface segments on self cleaning materials form a point of 'dirt crystalization'. From these points, dirt starts to cover the surface. This problem is addressed by Rühe's* paper [1] with a creative "shedding concept". Upon damage, water can access the water soluble glue material upon which the water repelling elements are sitting. The damaged hydrophobic element rinsed away, exposing a fresh hydrophobic element. Unfortunately, the regenerative potential is limited to the number of sacrificial hydrophobic elements. [1] 10.1021/acs.langmuir.7b00814 * Disclaimer: I met Jürgen in a joint group meetings during the Macromolecular Kolloquium in Freiburg. Great to see his name again via HN.. this was such a long time ago!

jaggederest 9y ago
That's literally the paper the article summarizes
- logicallee 9y ago
  to be fair, the article refers to the paper obliquely with the words, "just described in Langmuir by Jürgen Rühe of the University of Freiburg, in Germany." It's not a link and I couldn't find a link in the article - so it's easy to miss. why don't articles like this ever link to their primary sources? online, it just takes a hyperlink - it could be added without any additional comment, just turning a part of the sentence into a link.
tenken 9y ago
I'm not convinced anything you wrote ... is actually English! :P Because very little of it makes sense :)
- abritinthebay 9y ago
  You're getting downvoted but... what doesn't make sense to you? There wasn't a lot in that comment that was super dense. Was it just some of the terms used?

crusso 9y ago

I wouldn't call the surface "self-repairing". It's just an idea to create multiple layers in manufacturing. When one layer breaks down, there are other pre-built layers that can be used. Not nearly as interesting as the title suggests.

Animats 9y ago
It's similar to self-sealing fuel tanks in military aircraft. Those have a layer which expands when in contact with fuel, sealing the hole.
ry_ry 9y ago
My new mission in life is to build something that follows links, uses ML/NLP to write more accurate titles for articles, and inject the revised headline into the page. "Mildly interesting multi-layer waterproof material tenuously inspired by lizard scales, could last longer than cheaper alternatives." That sort of thing.
- sand500 9y ago
  Reddit had an article summary bot. Use similar logic and wrap it with a chrome extension.

gitpusher 9y ago

Agree with previous commenters. Interesting, but I can't wait to see materials that truly regenerate – rather than simply providing a buffer against initial damage.