ORNL scientist says superhydrophobic powder will "change the world"

An Oak Ridge scientist is out to master the undesirable effects of a substance most of us come in contact with every day: water.

John Simpson, Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Scientist of the Year, has created a powder that takes water-proof to a level never seen before.

His science imitates the lotus plant.

"It's a natural plant that has a hydrophobic chemistry but also has a nanostructure," Simpson explained.

In other words, its chemical make-up is water resistant, and its physical makeup contains bumps and spikes.

Simpson's idea was to reproduce the lotus plant's leaves with glass fibers.

"We took 2 glasses, a tube and a rod. Put them together. Drew them and made a few thousand meters of fiber. Bundled the fiber into a hexagon bundle," Simpson said.

The bundle of fibers is then drawn into a single fiber under extremely high temperatures.

The process is repeated until you get a surface comprised of bumps and spikes like the lotus plant.

"Microscopic glass cones that look like this," Simpson said pointing to an image taken under microscope.

The final result is a wafer with a few million of those cones on it.

"The wafer is superhydrophobic; very water-repellant," Simpson said.

When the wafer is ground into a powder and put on various surfaces, the water rolls right off.

Current products cause water to slide across surfaces, but Simpson's powder forces water drops to bounce.

"Of course what this does is change the world. We live in a water world," Simpson said.

Though water does a lot of good, it also comes with potentially serious damage.

When it freezes on power lines, icicles form, weighing the lines down, and causing them to snap.

"Here it is on our coated power line," Simpson said while dropping water onto a power line treated with his powder.

The water flies right off.

The superhydrophobic powder may also help with coating wood homes to prevent them from damage due to hurricanes or flooding.

"You might have to get rid of some drywall but you wouldn't have to knock down the houses," Simpson said.

The powder can also help extend the lifespan of concrete roads and metal bridges.

"It will throw the water off the bridge and stop corrosion," Simpson said.

Altogether, Simpson has developed four superhydrophobic powders.

All four may be available for commercial use in a year.