Post by geriatrix on Sept 30, 2016 13:33:32 GMT
By Saffron Alexander, reporter at Daily Telegraph, www.telegraph.co.uk/A group of European scientists could have the answer to all your washing-up woes after creating the world's first self-cleaning metal.
Inspired by the leaves of a lotus flower, the group of Italian scientists invented a self-cleaning, antibacterial metal surface designed to repel water using a criss-cross pattern produced by lasers to wash away any dirt or grime.
The surface creates miniature air pockets to limit the contact area between between the surface and the liquid, causing the liquid to simply "bounce off" instead of sticking to the surface.
Leader of the research project, Luca Romoli, a professor at the University of Parma, said: "In the same way that lotus leaves keep themselves clean, without the need for cleaning products or chemicals, their jagged, rough surfaces enable water to stay as spherical droplets by preventing spreading. Bacteria do not get a chance to stick because the contact with the metal surface and the liquid is reduced by over 80 per cent. We are looking at an anti-bacterial metal."
Though the process of manufacturing is still in the early stages, the scientists said their new technique would initially be used to create antibacterial surfaces for use in the food production industry.
Romoli said they hope their product will significantly impact productivity and efficiency in the industry: "Vats in milk factories need to be cleaned every six to eight hours to avoid the exponential growth of bacteria. This hinders usage and therefore affects output. By saving hours per day in cleaning, it will yield an efficiency improvement stemming from fewer sterilization cycles and less cleaning time within production as a whole. This will also reduce energy consumption as a result of fewer cleaning phases, making food production quicker, safer and more profitable."
Romoli added: "It is possible that any use of metal that needs to avoid the formation of bacteria will benefit from the product, such as medical cutting tools, sterile surfaces, dishwashers or even saucepans."
Many experts believe self-cleaning technology will become more common in the near future. Self-cleaning wool and silk is already in the works, having been created using nanotechnology, and in 2015 scientists created self-cleaning paint to make surfaces impervious to oils and water.
The self-cleaning metal could put an end to scrubbing at your pots and pans CREDIT: ALAMY
