The Science of Watching Paint Dry; Nanotech for Everyday Impact
GUILDFORD, UK - New research published in the journal Physical Review Letters has described a new physical mechanism that separates particles according to their size during the drying of wet coatings. The discovery could help improve the performance of a wide variety of everyday goods, from paint to sunscreen.
Researchers from the University of Surrey in collaboration with the Université Claude Bernard, Lyon, France, used computer simulation and materials experiments to show how when coatings with different sized particles - such as paints - dry, the coating spontaneously forms two layers.