Slashdot Mirror


Scientists Develop Super-Slippery Material

Hugh Pickens writes writes "Anyone who is partial to ketchup with their food will know how difficult it is to get the final dregs from the bottle but now the Telegraph reports that scientists have created one of the most slippery materials ever that promises to result in new self-cleaning surfaces that never get dirty, could be used to coat the inside of bottles and jars to help consumers get all of the food inside, or in the energy industry for making oil flow more efficiently through pipes. Professor Joanna Aizenberg, a materials scientists at Harvard University, was inspired by the carnivorous Nepenthes pitcher plants, which has a highly slippery surface at the top of its flute-shaped leaves so that insects tumble down into the digestive juices contained inside. The new material, known as a Slippery Liquid Infused Porous Surface or SLIPS boasts a rare trait called "omniphobicity", which means it can repel both water and oily materials. "If we used substance like ours to coat the inside of bottles, it would be possible to get it all out," says Aizenberg. "The only problem may be that the sauce may come out a little too easily on to their food.""

15 of 298 comments (clear)

  1. There was a movie about this by kurt555gs · · Score: 5, Funny

    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044876/ -- We all know the ending.

    --
    * Carthago Delenda Est *
  2. Solar Panels??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If it has good UV stability and doesn't block to much sun light; it would be great for use on solar panels that otherwise need to be cleaned in order achieve peak performance.

  3. Underpants? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    This opens a world of possibilities to the industry of underwear... First you don't need to iron, now you don't need to wash xD.

    1. Re:Underpants? by GNious · · Score: 5, Funny

      no .. his mom does ...

  4. This by marcello_dl · · Score: 5, Funny

    This was the first post
    but it slipped down here.

    --
    ---- MISSING MISCELLANEOUS DATA SEGMENT --- [sigdash] trolololol
  5. they could just ask politicians by roman_mir · · Score: 5, Funny

    plenty of politicians are made of this stuff.

  6. Practical application... by Coisiche · · Score: 5, Funny

    Think of the practical joke possibilities... floors, door handles... oh colleagues' coffee mugs.

    I think the Health & Safety people are going to clamp down on this one.

  7. Re:Prior Art by DikSeaCup · · Score: 5, Informative

    I disagree. This sounds more like the Orange Propulsion Gel than the blue stuff.

    "The only problem may be that the sauce may come out a little too easily on to their food."

    Now, if it comes shooting out of the top after you open it, that would be the blue gel.

  8. I wonder... by korgitser · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...what happens when this super slippery meets that super sticky gecko tape http://science.slashdot.org/story/11/11/07/1615221/gecko-inspired-tape-can-be-reused-thousands-of-times. Logic bomb?

    --
    FCKGW 09F9 42
  9. Could you use this on a submarine? by mosb1000 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Couldn't you use something like this to improve the efficiency of submarines, or perhaps aircraft?

    1. Re:Could you use this on a submarine? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Bearings, not barrings. Bearings don't slip. Bushings do. Bearings fail from wear caused by the sticking and unsticking of the rollers on the races. A little of the friction on aircraft is from skin drag, but much more is from the bumpiness of the surface above the thousandths, form drag and interference drag. Submarines and surface vessels might benefit greatly from it, but as much from preventing barnacles and crap from sticking. If you've never scraped a hull, you don't understand. Windmills are laminar flow creatures which might benefit from this, if they stay clean. The guy with the solar panel notion might be onto something.

  10. Neverwet by data2 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Have a look at http://www.neverwet.com/ They also have some amazing case studies showing off what the material can do, and where some use cases are.

  11. Re:Prior Art by durrr · · Score: 5, Funny

    Whichever it happens to be, if it can cover soft surfaces and survive cleaning we'll find it inside plastic vaginas.

  12. Re:New Teflon by hjf · · Score: 5, Informative

    I'm tired of this bullshit articles. I mean, kudos to the guy who came up with this, and I'm sure it works great in a lab, but in real life it probably is just as good as teflon. And as someone who actually cooks, I can tell you that teflon is overrated.

    You know what's a good non-stick surface? Take a good ol regular steel pan, the black ones. Rub it with cooking oil, and leave it to burn. You get a cloud of white smoke (man, a tiny bit of oil goes a long way!). When it's done, you have a layer of burnt oil that has penetrated every pore in the steel surface. BAM! Instant "teflon", wash your pan thoroughly with manual dishwashing detergent (don't use a dishwasher machine, it will take the layer off), and you're good to cook.

    This is how pans and pots and everything has been "cured" for centuries, and works perfectly. It's how you treat a wok when you buy it, and it's what happens to your grill over time.

    Wanna test it? Try frying an egg. On brand new, pristine condition Teflon, the egg won't stick. After a few uses the teflon surface gets microscopic scratches, and the egg starts sticking. On burnt oil? It never sticks. And every time you cook, some oil refills the new scratches so it auto-protects itself.

  13. Re:Prior Art by mooingyak · · Score: 5, Funny

    YOU'RE FUCKING WRONG.

    Are you saying "You're REALLY REALLY wrong." ?

    or are you saying "When you fuck, you are not doing it correctly." ?

    --
    William of Ockham had no beard. The most likely explanation is that it was chewed off by squirrels every morning.