New amazing metal is so hydrophobic it makes water bounce like magic.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

New amazing metal is so hydrophobic it makes water bounce like magic

Yes, but if you Google "hydrophobic" at DU, you'll find that every few years there is a new hydrophobic material that makes its predecessors look like a dish towel.

Here's Guo in a explanatory video along with the co-writer of the study, Anatoliy Vorobyev, who is a professor at the University of Rochester's Institute of Optics.

[DetlefK]

1. It's a normal metal that was microstructured with a laser.

The research-paper has SEM-images: The surface consists of an extremely rough and irregular structure, superimposed on a bigger wave-structure. All those pointy ends prevent the droplet from getting too much contact with the surface.

[valerief]

2. Interesting. Wonder how you clean such a metal. nt

[Roland99]

5. would you need to? Maybe compressed air like for a keyboard?

[Spitfire of ATJ]

3. Will the laser etching work on glass? I'm thinking car windshield.

[VWolf]

4. I would think that would make the glass cloudy n/t

[Baitball Blogger]

6. My contribution to science:

Something that can repel water that efficiently, could make an interesting material for a submarine. Looks like it would glide through water the same way that zero gravity has an affect on everything around it.

[Thor_MN]

7. Wonder what it would do for a boat hull...

[markpkessinger]

8. Not a new metal . . .

. . . a new technique, using lasers, to etch a particular microsurface pattern into an existing metal.