The ‘whitest ever’ paint that can reflect 99% of sunlight

Engineers from Purdue University in the US have created what they are calling the whitest paint yet. Buildings coated with this paint may be able to cool them off enough to reduce the need for air conditioning.

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The team of researchers at the university created an ultra-white paint in October pushing the limits of how white paint can be. This older formulation was made of calcium carbonate, while the new one is made up of barium sulphate, which makes it more white.

The newer paint is whiter and keeps the surface areas it is painted on cooler than the formulation before this could. If this new paint was used to cover a roof area of 1,000 square feet, it may be able to get a cooling power of 10 kilowatts.

Typical commercial white paint gets warmer rather than cooler and that paints currently available in the market that are designed to reject heat reflect only 80-90 per cent of the sunlight and therefore, they can’t make surfaces cooler than their surroundings.

The team has also claimed that this paint may be the closest equivalent to the blackest black paint called “Vantablack” that is able to absorb up to 99.9 per cent of visible light.