World’s Whitest Paint: How Can It Fight Global Warming?

After scientists announced in October 2020 the invention of ultra-white paint that could be used to keep an entire building cool, they have now produced what's described as the 'world's whitest paint.'

An IFL Science report said that the 2020 breakthrough pushed the envelope on new strategies to fight global warming. This is the reason for scientists inventing an even whiter paint.

These ultra-white paints, as described in the article, are considered the opposite of the so-called vantablack, which absorbs 99.9 percent of light.

They are reflecting so much light that a surface painted using them is actually ending up being cooler compared to the ambient temperature surrounding them.

The paint unveiled in October last year, as reported in Fast Company, was based on calcium carbonate or CaCO3, the mineral used for making chalk.  It had a reflectance of approximately 96.5 percent. This means that less than five percent of the sunlight that hits it would be absorbed by the paint.

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(Photo: Karolina Grabowska on Pixabay)
Based on the previous model, painting from 0.5 to one percent of the surface of Earth-like roads, roofs, cars, and unused lands, among others, with this new paint will stop the warming trend.

World's Whitest Paint

This newly-developed paint, detailed in the ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces journal, used barium sulfate instead. It is something that's already used commercially in making cosmetics and paper.

The research team approximated that 98.1 percent of sunlight is reflected back by the new whiter paint. This means that 1.9 percent of heat is absorbed.

According to Purdue University's Professor Xiulin Ruan, the study's senior author, in their experiment, the new paint has twice the cooling power of the previously invented white paint.

Tests have revealed that at strong sunlight noontime, material covered in the new paint was 4.4°C cooler compared to the ambient temperature. Then, at night, the material maintained a 10.5°C temperature below the surrounding areas.

Game-Changer in Combating Global Warming

This unusual ability to cool could be considered a game-changer in combating global warming. The paint could be applied to cool buildings instead of using air conditioners.

Professor Ruan explained that conventional air conditioners are consuming power frequently using fossil fuel.

Meanwhile, he added, as they move the head from "inside of a house to the outside," they are turning the electricity into heat and leave even higher temperature to the ambient and Earth, using a heat island effect further and warming up the Earth.

On the contrary, what seems to be the world's whitest paint does not consume any power. It directly sends off the entire heat to the deep space, thus helping to cool down the Earth.

To Stop the Warming Trend

Based on the previous model, painting from 0.5 to one percent of the surface of Earth-like roads, roofs, cars, and unused lands, among others - with this new paint will stop the warming trend.

While painting that portion of the surface of the earth might be quite difficult, using the paint on human-made structures could still have a major effect.

The team of researchers has shown that the barium sulfate paint can handle conditions outdoors and is compatible with the processes of standard commercial paints.

A patent has been filed as well, for this new paint. If and when it is available for commercial use, the world's whitest paint could be a simple solution in the fight against and in alleviating the complex problem of global warming.

A related report is shown on Tech Insider's YouTube video below:

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