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Applications of the materials we make (the so called POSS-cubes) can be found in the addition to coatings (covering/paint, for example on a car or house). The inspiration comes from nature. With the leaves of the lotusplant as a model, coatings were made that clean themselves: the Lotus-effect. Dirt lays on the leaf as a fakir on his bed with spikes.
Rain flushes away all dirt... Imagine nobody has to clean his car ever again!
 The small pictures show a raindrop on the leaf of a lotus and to the right: a leaf through a microscope (very good magnifying glass), it really is like a bed with spikes!!
To the left you can see the effect of such a 'self-cleaning coating': all dirt and dust is washed away during a shower of rain. Hmm, wouldn't such a thing be smart for people as well?? No more soap or shampoo, just stay under the garden sprinkler outside for a while (okay, during a hot summer only).
Our POSS molecules (short for polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes) have of course more characteristics: if special compounds are added to -say- a plastic, we can make it conductive for electricity: maybe in the future we read newspapers made of plastic that have the same picture quality as a flat television or computer screen!
On the website of Hybrid Plastics you can read that POSS can stand very high temperatures , so that they can also be used in NASA space shuttles.
A recent and very important feature is that POSS can be used as a catalyst. If you want to make things in a factory and use a catalyst, you produce less waste, save energy, save money and above all: save the environment!!! |
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