Coatings

It's never a good thing when harmful bacteria are present on surfaces in hospitals, as they can cause life-threatening infections in patients. A new paint could help keep that from happening, by quickly killing any microbes that land on it.

If you've ever eaten a pomegranate, you'll know that a great deal of the fruit is composed of its thick skin – which simply gets thrown away. Soon, however, that skin could be used in an edible coating which will help keep strawberries from spoiling.

You may think golf course grass is the same everywhere … but you would be wrong. Some greens are known for being dry while others have a rep for being wet, and a new type of golf ball coating could make for better golfing on both.

It was just this August that we heard about a super-slippery 3D-printed toilet bowl, which bacteria slide right off of. Well, if you want that same sort of functionality in your existing toilet, a special coating may do the trick.

It may be delicious and healthy, but fruit is frustratingly fickle, often going bad quickly in the fridge. Now, researchers in Thailand have developed an invisible, edible coating made with cannabidiol (CBD) that can preserve fruit for much longer.

Copper is known for its ability to kill microbes on contact, which is why it's often professionally coated onto commonly touched items. A copper nanowire spray may allow everyday folks to give existing surfaces the same treatment, using a spray can.

Plastic wraps and food containers generate huge amounts of waste. Now researchers at Harvard and Rutgers have developed a new plant-based, antimicrobial coating that can be sprayed onto food to keep it fresh, and easily washed off before consumption.

While brain-implanted electrodes do show promise for applications such as restoring capabilities to the disabled, they tend to lose their functionality over time. A new coating, however, could allow them to work much longer once implanted.

New weapons against so-called “superbugs” are desperately needed. A new black phosphorus coating quickly kills bacteria and fungi, then dissolves within 24 hours – and best of all, bacteria can’t evolve resistance against this mode of attack.

While reverse osmosis is a relatively energy-efficient form of seawater desalination, it is nonetheless made less efficient by a problem known as biofouling. A new membrane coating, however, could address biofouling like never before.

When a patient receives a titanium artificial hip, there's always the risk of an infection developing at the interface between the metal and the bone. A new implant-coating process, however, is intended to greatly reduce that risk.

We've been hearing a lot about the antibacterial qualities of silver nanoparticles. Unfortunately, there are also concerns about the toxicity of those particles. Now, however, scientists have developed what they claim is a safer alternative – an antibacterial coating that kills microbes using gold.