Purdue researchers develop a very white paint that could one day be used to cool buildings

[captaincranky]

What about the temps in winter? Will you freeze to death?

Yeah, people in Montana, North Dakota, and Siberia, are going to love this paint. After all, why wouldn't they want their houses 10 degrees colder when it's 40 below zero outside.

Jusrt think, if we spray it by the tanker car load all over every city street, we'll lose that "heat island effect" in the summer. (Oh, who am I kidding, we can'r even get all the potholes fixed until late July).

From a strictly aesthetic point, I'm sure every person in the world will jump at the chance to have their houses painted bright.white.

IMO, it's cute that they did this, but at he end of the day, this is just, "research for research's sake"..

So, from both a fashion, and a practical sense, buildings, streets, and people, "shouldn't wear white after Labor Day".

 

[seeprime]

Maybe they will come up with a formulation of the paint that contains TiO2 - which is used in self-cleaning coatings. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233592400_Self-cleaning_coatings#:~:text=Hydrophilic surfaces for self-cleaning applications are generally produced,species and bacteria deposited on the coated surface.

TiO2 is the most commonly used white pigment. In order to obtain a long life pure white" coating a fluorocarbon resin needs to be used. These can last 30 years without losing much gloss or darkening. Other resins, like polyurethanes and high quality acrylic lacquers can survive 20 years, as long as a UV absorber is added to the formulation.

 

[seeprime]

Still could do more than you think, especially when A/C costs can get high.

Cost is important. Today's pure white all silicone paints, used as reflective roof coatings, cost about $300 per gallon. The new stuff might cost a lot more, and only provide a few percent additional reflectance.

 

[Markoni35]

That's racist...

Exactly what I thought. They'll have to make that white paint black.