An alumnus of Jadavpur University Debashis Chanda has helped create a revolutionary new paint, inspired by butterflies. This environment-friendly multicolour paint is an alternative to pigment-based colourants and Chanda's team says will help in energy saving and reduce global warming. Chanda is currently an Associate Professor at the NanoScience Technology Center of the University of Central Florida.
In their research paper, they highlighted that while a Boeing 747 requires 500 kg of paint, their ultralight paint would require only about 1.3 kg to cover the aircraft — which would, of course, lead to lesser fuel needed to fly the plane.
The plasmonic paint developed by Chanda's research team uses a nanoscale structural arrangement of colourless materials, such as aluminium and aluminium oxide rather than pigments, to produce the colours.
So, in contrast to pigment colourants, which control light absorption based on the electronic property of the pigment and hence every colour needs a new molecule, structural colourants control how light is reflected, scattered, or absorbed based solely on the geometrical arrangement of nanostructures.
As plasmonic paint reflects the full infrared spectrum, it absorbs less heat, keeping the underside of the surface 25-30 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than it would be if it were painted with regular commercial paint.
The paint’s large area-to-thickness ratio makes it the lightest paint as its full colouration is achieved at a paint thickness of only 150 nanometers.
More about Debashis Chanda
Chanda completed his engineering from the Electrical Engineering department of Jadavpur University in 1998. After that, he moved to Canada and pursued a Master's in Science from the University of Calgary.
Later, he completed his PhD at the University of Toronto.
Debashis joined the University of Central Florida after the completion of his post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and was later promoted to the post of Associate Professor.
The recent paint innovation has made him popular but there have been various other noteworthy types of research he has been a part of.
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Optical sensor that identifies viruses in seconds with 95% accuracy
Chanda also developed an optical sensor in 2022, which can identify viruses in blood samples using nanotechnology within seconds. The researcher claimed that the device can provide results with 95 percent accuracy.
Chanda's team used samples of the dengue virus for the research. However, in a university news post, Chanda claimed the technology can "easily be adapted to detect other viruses, like COVID-19".
Infrared detectors with Viper-Like Vision
In 2019, Chanda and his team developed an infrared detector to improve the sensitivity of night-vision cameras. Chanda told Nature Communications journal, "With the infrared detector we've developed, you can extract more information from the object you're looking at in the dark,”
The infrared detector is sensitive enough to pick up various infrared light wavelengths without the need for liquid nitrogen cooling it to an extreme -321 degrees. It works much more quickly than current night-vision cameras, which don't need cooling, but take a long time to analyse images.
The technology attracted one of the world's biggest tech companies to invest. Chanda recently received Samsung’s International Global Research Outreach Award, which will fund the development of infrared night vision and thermal sensing camera technology for cell phones and consumer electronics.
Skin-like colour display
The first flexible, full-colour, thin-film reflective display was developed using a nature-inspired technique by Chanda’s research team in 2015. The result was described as an incredibly thin nanostructure that can change colour, depending on the voltage applied.
The technique makes use of ambient light rather than its own light source, eliminating the need for bulky backlighting.
The innovation could be used to alter soldiers' camouflage instantly and to create low-powered e-reader screens. Chanda took inspiration from Chameleons and created a display that is up to 25 times thinner than human hair.
(Edited by : Amrita Das)
First Published: Mar 29, 2023 4:27 PM IST
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