New pigment-free coating stays 6°C cooler than surrounding air in desert sun

Columbia Engineering researchers developed a porous polymer coating that can cool surfaces below the surrounding air temperature without using electricity. The coating replaces conventional white pigments with nano-to-microscale air voids that reflect sunlight and release heat towards the sky. Tests showed the surface stayed about 6°C below ambient temperature in Arizona and 3°C below it in Bangladesh.

By TOI SCIENCE DESK