Periodic graphics: Water-repelling chemistry

Chemical educator and Compound Interest blogger Andy Brunning explains why April showers roll off of raincoats and treated windshields

By Andy Brunning

Department: Science & Technology
News Channels: Analytical SCENE, Materials SCENE, Organic SCENE
Keywords: hydrophobic, hydrophilic, contact angle, PTFE, Rain-X, Gore-Tex, water-repellent, coatings

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To download a pdf of this article, visit http://cenm.ag/waterrepelling.

To see more of Brunning’s work, go to http://compoundchem.com. To see all of C&EN’s Periodic Graphics, visit http://cenm.ag/periodicgraphics.

This article has been translated into Spanish by Divulgame.org and can be found here.

Comments

Ken Forbes Woodland, CA (Tue Apr 19 16:50:06 EDT 2016)

Thank you for the brief and informative graphic Andy Brunning. It conveys the essentials of the major water repellents in an easy-to-read format that reports on the recent use of urine-repelling wall paint in an innovative approach to an annoying local problem in our beautiful San Francisco. I have high hopes for that paint.

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