![]() ![]() The researcher's experiments also found the surface effectively repelled bacteria, particularly ones that spread infectious diseases and unpleasant odors. While other liquid-infused slippery surfaces can take hours to cure, the LESS two-step coating takes less than five minutes. Penn State researchers have developed a method that dramatically reduces the amount of water needed to flush a conventional toilet - a bio-inspired, liquid, sludge- and bacteria-repellent coating that can essentially make a toilet self-cleaning - described in a paper in Nature Sustainability. The researchers also predict the coating could last for about 500 flushes in a conventional toilet before a reapplication of the lubricant layer is needed. With this novel slippery surface, the toilets can effectively clean residue from inside the bowl and dispose of the waste with only a fraction of the water previously needed. "When we put that coating on a toilet in the lab and dump synthetic fecal matter on it, it (the synthetic fecal matter) just completely slides down and nothing sticks to it (the toilet)," Wang said. While this first application creates an extremely smooth surface as is, the second spray infuses a thin layer of lubricant around those nanoscopic "hairs" to create a super-slippery surface. "When it dries, the first spray grows molecules that look like little hairs, with a diameter of about 1,000,000 times thinner than a human's," Wang said. The first spray, created from molecularly grafted polymers, is the initial step in building an extremely smooth and liquid-repellent foundation. In the Wong Laboratory for Nature Inspired Engineering, housed within the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Materials Research Institute, researchers have developed a method that dramatically reduces the amount of water needed to flush a conventional toilet, which usually requires 6 liters.Ĭo-developed by Jing Wang, a doctoral graduate from Wong's lab, the liquid-entrenched smooth surface (LESS) coating is a two-step spray that, among other applications, can be applied to a ceramic toilet bowl. "Our team has developed a robust bio-inspired, liquid, sludge- and bacteria-repellent coating that can essentially make a toilet self-cleaning," said Tak-Sing Wong, Wormley Early Career Professor of Engineering and associate professor of mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering. The possibility may exist through research conducted at Penn State, released today (Nov.
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