With this, it would only take less than 1.4 kilos to paint a Boeing 747 .
A researcher from the University of Central Florida has presented an alternative to traditional paint , which he claims is the “lightest in the world,” as well as being more environmentally friendly.
UCF Today explains that Debashis Chanda, a professor at the institution of higher learning, was inspired by butterflies to create this painting .
“Structural color serves as the primary mechanism of color generation in several extremely living species in which the geometric arrangement of two typically colorless materials produces all colors. In contrast, with artificial pigment, new molecules are needed for each color present.” explained.
What is special about this painting?
Chanda’s team developed a plasmonic paint, which is composed of colorless materials, aluminum and aluminum oxide, at the nanoscale. Traditional painting uses pigments to create colors.
These structural colors are kinder to the planet as they only use metals and oxides, unlike pigment-based colors that use artificially synthesized molecules.
The researchers mixed their structural color flakes with commercial binder to form durable paints of all colors, reports UCF Today .
Furthermore, Chanda notes that his new paint can last for centuries as it does not fade when it loses its ability to absorb photons, which is the case with traditional paint .
This plasmonic paint also stands out for how light it is. It would only take less than 1.4 kilos to paint a Boeing 747 aircraft , as opposed to the more than 450 kilos required to use conventional paint.
At the moment, the disadvantage of this paint is that it is still quite expensive to produce.
The researcher believes that he needs to give it more properties such as non-toxicity, cooling effects and make it lighter so that it can displace conventional paint .