Scientists have invented the world’s whitest paint. It’s so bright that it reflects 95.5 percent of light. Other white paints available today reflect only 80 to 90 percent. The new super-white paint, created by mechanical engineers at Purdue University in Indiana, gets its color from calcium carbonate (CaCO3). This white mineral is found in seashells, chalk, and limestone.
The researchers designed the paint to keep objects cool by reflecting energy from the sun in the form of sunlight and heat back into space. They found that surfaces covered with the paint stayed 10°C (18°F) cooler than their surroundings.
Project leader Xiulin Ruan hopes the new paint will be used to help combat climate change, which is causing Earth’s average global temperature to rise. The scientists believe painting rooftops with their invention could reduce the need for air-conditioning in buildings. “If we covered just one percent of Earth’s surface with this paint,” says Ruan, “it could significantly reduce global warming,”