Buildings in hot climates traditionally try to paint it white because it effectively reflects the sun’s rays. A team of scientists from the University of California reports on a major breakthrough – they managed to create a very white paint that reflects nearly all the light falling on it.

The possibility of white paint in terms of cooling houses has long been known. NASA conducted the 2012 study, for example, argues that the white coating can reduce the peak temperature of the rooftops of new York by as much as 24 °C. At the moment the best available paints on the market reflects about 85 % of the sunlight and absorbs the rest. Californians have managed to improve this indicator by making the recipe a couple of technological change.

A key component of modern reflective paint is titanium oxide. It effectively reflects most of the visible and near-infrared radiation but absorbs violet and ultraviolet light. During the experiments, the scientists found him a good replacement – pigment barite from the Arsenal of artists and Teflon.

Changes of the formulation increased the efficiency of light reflection paint to a record 98 % – and it could radically reduce the cost of cooling buildings. Moreover, the production of new colors can be made on already available to manufacturers equipment.

The study was published in the journal of Joule.
Source — University of California