> Researchers at the University of Sydney and commercial start-up Dewpoint Innovations have created a nano-engineered polymer coating that not only reflects up to 97% of the sun's rays, but also passively collects water. In tests, it was able to keep indoors up to 6 °C (~11 °F) cooler than the air outside.
So "blocks" is a poor word choice - tarpaper will block 97%+ of light.
I see nothing about the cost / durability / toxicity of the new paint-ish coating. Hopefully that's "low" / "very" / "non-".
allears•3mo ago
They did say that the material didn't degrade over the course of their testing, but of course that's only a year or so.
bell-cot•3mo ago
> the coating withstood the challenging test of the harsh Australian sun, and showed no signs of degradation over the six months.
Real-world optimal would be 25+ years - in environments with acid rain, bat/bird droppings, hailstones, heavy smog, ice dams, 65° C summers, and several other sorts of hazards.
(Yes, that's a ridiculously big ask. OTOH, the planet we're stuck on is starting to char. And workable Planet B's are looking extremely scarce):
"PVDF is widely considered safe and ubiquitous used for water treatment,[24] the food industry, and biocompatible devices like hernia meshes or internal devices.">
tocs3•3mo ago
I do not have any polyvinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropene (PVDF-HFP) but I wonder if there is a similar DIY option. It sounds like it uses little bubbles in the paint to reflect the sunlight. I would really like something like this here in Texas. It is getting dryer and I worry about our well.
bell-cot•3mo ago
So "blocks" is a poor word choice - tarpaper will block 97%+ of light.
I see nothing about the cost / durability / toxicity of the new paint-ish coating. Hopefully that's "low" / "very" / "non-".
allears•3mo ago
bell-cot•3mo ago
Real-world optimal would be 25+ years - in environments with acid rain, bat/bird droppings, hailstones, heavy smog, ice dams, 65° C summers, and several other sorts of hazards.
(Yes, that's a ridiculously big ask. OTOH, the planet we're stuck on is starting to char. And workable Planet B's are looking extremely scarce):
tocs3•3mo ago
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyvinylidene_fluoride#Safety...
"PVDF is widely considered safe and ubiquitous used for water treatment,[24] the food industry, and biocompatible devices like hernia meshes or internal devices.">