One of the nation's largest universities, a high-profile school that excels in academics and athletics, cares about your hygiene.
And your pocketbook.
News out of Central Ohio has researchers from The Ohio State University developing a coating that allows soaps and shampoos and detergents to flow easily out of polypropylene bottles. No more shaking. No more hitting. No more turning upside-down.
Just a free flow of all that lathery goodness.
The patent-pending coating “involves lining a plastic bottle with microscopic y-shaped structures that cradle the droplets of soap aloft above tiny air pockets,” according to OSU.
The lining is made from nanoparticles of silica, and the soap never actually touches the plastic bottle and flows freely, OSU said.
Surface tension is the key here. Food products, such as ketchup and sauces, are mostly made of water. And water likes to stick to itself more than plastic, the university said.
But surfactants contained in soap have what the university calls “a very low surface tension” and easily stick to plastic.
