Graphene coatings used to repel, attract water, could make Rain-X decidedly obsolete

Graphene looks poised to replace our silicon and our touchscreens, even fix our batteries. Now it's due for something perhaps a little less revolutionary: keep our pants clean. Physicist James Dickerson and a team of researchers at Vanderbilt University have created two ways to apply thin graphene sheets that either make them super-hydrophobic or super-hydrophilic. These alternate arrangements, termed "rug" and "brick," make the water bead up and run off or spread out and form incredibly thin sheets. Potential applications are windshields that don't need wipers, pants that cause red wine drops to just bounce off, and goggles that never, ever fog -- no buffing required.

Graphene coatings used to repel, attract water, could make Rain-X decidedly obsolete originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Feb 2011 20:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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