Researchers at Purdue University in Indiana in the United States now hold the record for creating the world’s whitest paint.
Guinness World Records has officially recognized this barium-sulfate paint as the whitest in the world. It is said to have a reflectivity of 98.1 percent.
GWR explained in its posting: “This compares to a reflectivity of 80-90 percent for other white paints designed to reflect sunlight that are currently available.”
Reflectivity here refers to how much of heat and light the whiteness of the paint may reflect. The more heat it can reflect, the cooler it will keep whatever it is coated on.
The concept is already used in daily life by airplane manufacturers and airlines, which paint passenger aircraft white.
The move reduces chances of overheating of the cabin by reflecting back sunlight, whether it is in air or sitting on the runway in the open.
This has led Purdue University to claim that the paint might be able to reduce air-conditioning bills when it becomes commercially available.
This could be especially useful in the Middle East and North Africa region, which spends a pretty packet for air-conditioning wherever it can be afforded.
After all, Purdue mechanical engineering professor Xiulin Ruan, who created the paint, was quoted by the university as saying in one of its statements: “If you were to use this paint to cover a roof area of about 1,000 square feet, we estimate that you could get a cooling power of 10 kilowatts. That’s more powerful than the central air conditioners used by most houses.”
According to another statement, two features make this paint ultra-white.
One is a very high concentration of the chemical compound barium sulfate, which is also used in photo paper and cosmetics.
The other is the different particle sizes of barium sulfate in the paint.
The statement explained: “What wavelength of sunlight each particle scatters depends on its size, so a wider range of particle sizes allows the paint to scatter more of the light spectrum from the sun.”
It added that the researchers have partnered with a company to scale up the paint and put it on the market.