Liquid-repelling substance works on all surfaces
New coating can eliminate complex disinfectant procedures for protective
face shields

Date:
July 16, 2020
Source:
University of British Columbia Okanagan campus
Summary:
Acting like an invisible force field, a new liquid coating
may provide an extra layer of protection for front-line
workers. Researchers have developed a coating that repels nearly all
substances off a surface. And that new coating will make cleaning
personal protective equipment a little bit easier for front-line
health care workers.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Acting like an invisible force field, a new liquid coating being developed
by UBC Okanagan researchers may provide an extra layer of protection
for front- line workers.


========================================================================== Researchers at the Okanagan Polymer Engineering Research and Applications (OPERA) Lab have developed a coating that repels nearly all substances off
a surface. And that new coating will make cleaning personal protective equipment a little bit easier for front-line health care workers,
explains Kevin Golovin, an assistant professor at UBCO's School of
Engineering and director at OPERA.

Surfaces that can repel a broad range of liquids are called omniphobic, explains UBCO master's student and lead author of the study Behrooz
Khatir.

Working in Golovin's lab, Khatir has created a spray-on solution that
can make any surface, including a face shield, omniphobic.

"Omniphobic -- all-liquid repellent -- films can repel a broad range of liquids, but the applicability of these coatings has always been limited
to silicon wafers or smooth glass," says Khatir. "This new formulation
can coat and protect just about any surface, including metals, paper,
ceramics and even plastics." The two-layer coating involves placing
an ultra-smooth silica layer on a surface and then functionalizing this
layer with a highly-reactive silicone to effectively block all kinds of
liquids from sticking on the surface, explains Golovin.

Not only does the coating repel countless substances, but even under
harsh exposures like UV light, acids and high temperatures, the coating maintains its resistance qualities. And Golovin notes, if the coating
does become damaged it can be easily and repeatedly repaired, fully
restoring the omniphobic properties to their initial state.

Golovin recently received COVID-19 funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) to optimize the coating for health
care face shields so they stay clean, in partnership with Kelowna-based survivability products manufacturer PRE Labs Inc.

"This technology has many applications, but we are currently focused
on providing a solution that will keep our nurses and doctors safe
and effective," says Golovin. "This new coating will prevent droplets
or microbes from sticking to a face shield. This makes disinfecting
face shields feasible just with water rather than requiring complex disinfectant procedures."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_British_Columbia_Okanagan_campus. Note: Content may be
edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Behrooz Khatir, Sadaf Shabanian, Kevin Golovin. Design and High-
Resolution Characterization of Silicon Wafer-like Omniphobic
Liquid Layers Applicable to Any Substrate. ACS Applied Materials &
Interfaces, 2020; 12 (28): 31933 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.0c06433 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200716101601.htm

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