Washington: A novel bacteria-repellent coating could dramatically reduce the amount of water needed to flush a toilet, which usually requires six litres, scientists say. The research was published in the journal Nature Sustainability on the eve of the World Toilet Day observed. The researchers noted that while millions of global citizens experience water scarcity, every day, more than 141 billion litres of water are used solely to flush toilets.
“Our team has developed a robust bio-inspired, liquid, sludge- and bacteria-repellent coating that can essentially make a toilet self-cleaning," Tak-Sing Wong, a professor at Pennsylvania State University in the US, said in a statement.
The liquid-entrenched smooth surface (LESS) coating is a two-step spray that, among other applications, can be applied to a ceramic toilet bowl, the researchers said. The first spray, created from molecularly grafted polymers, is the initial step in building an extremely smooth and liquid-repellent foundation, they said.
“When it dries, the first spray grows molecules that look like little hairs, with a diameter of about 1,000,000 times thinner than a human’s,” Wang said in a statement. While this first application creates an extremely smooth surface, the second spray infuses a thin layer of lubricant around those nanoscopic “hairs” to create a super-slippery surface, the researchers explained. “When we put that coating on a toilet in the lab and dump synthetic faecal matter on it, it (the synthetic fecal matter) just completely slides down and nothing sticks to the toilet,” Wang said.
— PTI
