Purdue University engineers create world's whitest paint reflecting 98.1% sunlight
Engineers at Purdue University have made the world's whitest paint, which bounces back 98.1% of sunlight.
Basically, if you put this on your roof, it can keep your place way cooler (up to 4.5 degrees Celsius cooler during the day and over 10 degrees Celsius at night) so you might not need to crank the air conditioning as much.
On a roof covering roughly 1,000 square feet under favorable conditions, it works about as well as about 10 kilowatts of cooling capacity and exceeds the cooling capacity of many residential central air conditioning systems without using any energy.
Barium sulfate mix yields durable reflection
The secret is barium sulfate, a material also found in things like cosmetics, which helps scatter sunlight super efficiently.
By mixing different particle sizes, the team made sure it reflects nearly all sunlight and stays tough outdoors.
Unlike specialist "cool roof" products that generally reflect between 80 and 90% of sunlight, this one's built for real-world use and could help reduce cooling demand in buildings.