Sounds like a pipe dream right? Waterproof paper? Well a nanotechnology start-up called Ecology Coatings stumbled across a spray-on coating that makes it a reality. Like some of the greatest inventions and discoveries, this one was made by accident:
Sally Ramsey, founder of Ecology Coatings, jerry-rigged an apparatus in her lab to show a chemical company representative how rapidly one of Ecology’s coatings dries when exposed to ultraviolet light. To avoid making a mess, she put a piece of paper underneath the object she wanted to spray.
When cleaning up, Ramsey exposed the paper to UV light to dry it and make it easier to throw away. On a whim, she checked to see if the coating, which was enhanced with nanoparticles, made the paper impervious to pencils or ink.
“For a minute, I was really disappointed. I could write on it all over the place,” she said. “Then something clicked.”
Pretty cool stuff! Just think of the possibilities. You could make so many different objects waterproof, where it just wasn’t before possible! Ah scientific progress…
Read: CNET News.com
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