Naked Science Forum

Life Sciences => Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution => Topic started by: thedoc on 23/09/2011 09:24:29

Title: Is this the slipperiest substance known to man?
Post by: thedoc on 23/09/2011 09:24:29

Inspired by the insect-eating pitcher plant, scientists have created a material capable of repelling almost any liquid including blood and even crude oil...

Read the whole story on our  website by clicking here (http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/content/news-archive/news/2391/)

  

Title: Is this the slipperiest substance known to man?
Post by: SeanB on 23/09/2011 09:37:43

So something even more slippery than PTFE. I wonder how it will survive a salt spray chamber test. If it can be made transparent or be made as a thin film I can see it being a good window coating, never needing washing.

Title: Is this the slipperiest substance known to man?
Post by: CliffordK on 24/09/2011 16:30:55

Slippery stuff..
Algae can be very slippery...  worse than ice.

But, I think the idea is the same.  Algae is slippery when wet, and it traps moisture.  It is much less slippery when dry.

I think the big question will be the durability of this teflon substance.  Does it use water as a solvent?  If so, what is the risk that the substance dries out?  Then what?

Will it discolor with dye?