Scientists create brilliant white material without a drop of white pigment

Researchers have created a foam-based material that produces intense whiteness and water repellency without titanium dioxide pigments or PFAS chemicals. Inspired by natural structures in snow, clouds, flowers, and lotus leaves, the material uses tiny pores to scatter light while its rough surface repels water. The technology could offer a more sustainable way to make white, water-resistant everyday materials.

Scientists create brilliant white material without a drop of white pigment. Scientists create brilliant white material without a drop of white pigment Science News from research organizations Scientists create brilliant white material without a drop of white pigment Scientists created a nature-inspired foam that turns materials bright white and water-repellent without pigments or PFAS. Yet the white foam of the waves, the snow covering Mount Fuji, and the clouds in the sky contain no white pigment at all.

Their brightness comes from light scattering off the exposed fibers of the traditional washi paper. This effect is known as structural whiteness. Rather than relying on a colored substance, it emerges from the way a material’s microscopic structure interacts with light.

The same basic phenomenon appears throughout nature.