A lightweight and eco-friendly paint, inspired by butterflies, has been created by a researcher at the University of Central Florida. The paint employs nanoscale structures in place of pigments, producing colors that are both energy-efficient and durable. Furthermore, the paint is the lightest of its kind globally, with complete coloration achievable with just a 150-nanometer thickness.
The development was published in the journal Science Advances as a featured article.
According to Chanda, the remarkable range of colors in nature, from vibrant flowers and birds to marine life like fish and cephalopods, stems from structural color. In certain species, the geometric arrangement of two transparent materials creates all colors, whereas human-made pigments require new molecules for each color.
Chanda’s team drew inspiration from these natural processes to develop plasmonic paint that employs nanoscale structures of colorless materials, namely aluminum and aluminum oxide, instead of pigments to generate colors. Unlike pigment colorants, which require a new molecule for each color based on their electronic properties, structural colorants manipulate how light is absorbed, scattered, or reflected based solely on the arrangement of nanostructures.
Such structural colors are environmentally friendly as they only use metals and oxides, unlike present pigment-based colors that use artificially synthesized molecules.
By blending their structural color flakes with a conventional binder, the researchers produced long-lasting paints in every hue. According to Chanda, standard color fades over time as pigments lose their ability to absorb photons, whereas structural color is not subject to this limitation. Thus, objects painted with structural color should retain their hue for centuries.
Furthermore, because plasmonic paint reflects the full infrared spectrum, it absorbs less heat, keeping the surface underneath it 25-30 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than if it were coated with typical commercial paint.
