Indian-Origin Scientist Creates World's First Energy-Saving Paint, Inspired By Butterflies

A brand-new heat-repelling paint that is available in any colour and is expected to last for centuries has been developed by an Indian-origin scientist. Moreover, it is the world's lightest paint.

Professor Debashis Chanda of the University of Central Florida's NanoScience Technology Centre has used the inspiration of butterflies to develop the first environmentally sound, mass-produced, and multicoloured substitute for pigment-based colourants, which can aid in energy-saving initiatives and counteract global warming.

The finding was recently featured in an article in Science Advances.

"The range of colours and hues in the natural world are astonishing, from colourful flowers, birds, and butterflies to underwater creatures like fish and cephalopods," Chanda says.

"Structural colour serves as the primary color-generating mechanism in several extremely vivid species where geometrical arrangements of typically two colourless materials produce all colours. On the other hand, with manmade pigment, new molecules are needed for every colour present."

Chanda says his interest in structural colour stems from the vibrancy of butterflies. "As a kid, I always wanted to build a butterfly," he says. "Colour draws my interest."

Dr. Chanda said that "the paint is so lightweight that only about 3 pounds of plasmonic paint could cover a Boeing 747, which normally requires more than 1,000 pounds of conventional paint."

Talking about his upcoming research, Dr. Chanda said, "We need to bring something different to the table, like non-toxicity, a cooling effect, and ultralight weight, that other conventional paints can't."

There is still a long way to go before this novel product can be mass produced since it has only been developed in the lab.