University of Pennsylvania | Hanging hundreds of feet off the ground to wash a skyscraper’s windows or pumping water out to a desert solar array to keep its panels and mirrors clean is more than just a hassle — it’s an expensive problem with serious ecological implications.

A spin-off company from Penn has found a way to solve the problem of keeping surfaces clean, while also keeping them transparent.

Nelum Sciences, created under an UPstart program in Penn’s Center for Technology Transfer, has developed a superhydrophobic coating that can be sprayed onto any surface. The water-based solution contains nanoscopic particles that add a nearly invisible layer of roughness to a surface. This increases the contact angle of the material to which these particles are applied.

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University of Pennsylvania | “Nanotech innovation keeps surfaces clean and transparent”
University of Pennsylvania | Center for Technology Transfer