Simple technique results in surprising repellency results
(PhysOrg.com) -- Anyone who has ever worn eyeglasses for any length of time can surely attest to the annoyance of constantly having to clean off the oil left behind by finger touching. Not only does it dirty the lens, but removal requires a solvent, rather than a simple tissue. Doris Vollmer can relate, and that’s just what got her thinking about the soot given off by her Christmas candles. As a polymer research scientist with the Max Planck Institute in Germany, she knew the soot was water resistant, but what she wanted to know was whether it was oil resistant as well. So, she and her colleagues held a glass slide over a candle and then tested it. In doing so, as she and her team describe in Science, they found that after some tweaking, the result was a truly remarkable repellency material.