The discovery began as a project in response to climate change
A team of researchers at Purdue University, Indiana, US, have created a paint that’s scooped the Guiness World Record title as the world’s whitest acrylic paint. Headed up by Purdue mechanical engineering professor Xiulin Ruan, the project was initiated as a search for a way to cool down buildings, in response to climate change.
‘When we started this project about seven years ago, we had saving energy and fighting climate change in mind,’ Ruan revealed.
The ultra-white paint reflects up to 98.1% of sunlight – the incorporation of barium sulfate helped increase the reflection rate, with the paint allowed a greater ‘spectral scattering’. In terms of the material’s cooling properties, the paint can keep outdoor surfaces 19 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than its ambient temperature at night, and 8 degrees at midday.
‘Artists have emailed me asking where they can get the paint,’ Ruan said – paint samples have since been sent to several museum collections.
