All that's gold does not glitter! Scientists have developed a gold coating that could reduce glare from solar panels and electronic displays and dull dangerous glints on military weapons.
The new material mimics the pattern of moth eyeballs to reduce glare, researchers said.
"We found that a very simple process and a tiny bit of gold can turn a transparent film black," said University of California, Irvine chemistry professor Robert Corn, whose group has created the patterned polymer material.
The researchers were initially worried when they noticed what appeared to be soot on a flexible film they were designing to coat various products.
However, they soon realised that they had accidentally discovered a way to fabricate a surface capable of eliminating glare, the researchers reported in the journal Nano Letters.
The material can keep grime in raindrops and other moisture from sticking, researchers said in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.
To do it, the group etched a repeating pattern of cones modeled on moth eyeballs at the nanoscale on Teflon and other nonstick surfaces.
They then applied a thin layer of gold over the cones and the shine from the gold and any light reflecting onto it was all but obliterated. The material is also highly hydrophobic, meaning it repels liquids.
Residents of Newport Beach, California; certain cities in England and Australia; and elsewhere have complained vociferously about neighbours installing highly reflective solar panels that unintentionally beam blinding sunlight onto their properties, researchers said.
In addition, troops risk enemy detection when sunshine bounces off weaponry. And cellphone displays can be unreadable in bright light. The new coating could solve these issues, they said.
UC Irvine's Office of Technology Alliances has filed a patent application for the work.
