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Scientists Discover Way to Send Information into Black Holes Without Using Energy

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This New Lightweight Paint Could Stop Aircraft Colors From Fading In Sunlight

Creating a coating that is bright, glossy, lightweight and resistant to fading has long been a challenge for scientists. Traditional paints can provide vivid colors and a smooth finish, but their pigments may fade over time when exposed to sunlight. New structural-color technologies can avoid this fading, yet they often suffer from other problems, including color changes with viewing angle and difficulty being applied to complex surfaces.

Researchers at Kobe University in Japan may have found a promising solution. A team led by materials engineer Hiroshi Sugimoto has developed a silicon nanosphere coating that can produce glossy, bright and nonfading color on three-dimensional surfaces. The technology could eventually find applications ranging from aircraft coatings to advanced optical sensors.

Why Conventional Color Coatings Have Limitations

Most conventional coatings use pigments to create color. These pigment layers can be relatively thick, adding considerable weight when applied to large objects. They can also gradually lose their color when exposed to sunlight and other environmental conditions.

Structural color offers a different approach. Instead of relying on chemical pigments, structural-color materials produce color through the interaction of light with tiny physical structures.

Natural examples include the brilliant colors seen in peacock feathers and some butterfly wings. Because the color comes from physical structures rather than conventional pigments, structural color can be highly resistant to photofading.

However, traditional artificial structural-color systems have important limitations. Their microscopic structures generally need to be carefully aligned, and their appearance can change depending on the angle from which they are viewed. This effect, known as iridescence, can be undesirable for applications that require a consistent color.

Protective coatings can also interfere with the carefully organized structures needed to produce structural color.

A New Approach Using Silicon Nanospheres

Sugimoto and his research group have been developing a different method based on silicon nanospheres.

Earlier research showed that these tiny silicon particles could generate structural color without strongly depending on viewing angle. More recently, the researchers demonstrated that the technology could be applied using inkjet printing.

There was still one major challenge: the resulting color was relatively diffuse. In simple terms, the surface could produce color, but it did not have the glossy appearance associated with polished or high-quality painted surfaces.

The researchers realized that the same developments that made the technology suitable for printing could also help solve this problem.

Their solution was to surround the silicon nanospheres with silica shells.

Silica Shells Help Create a Glossy Surface

According to Sugimoto, placing the silicon nanospheres inside silica shells provides two important benefits.

First, the silica protects the nanoparticles. Second, it allows researchers to better control the spacing between the particles.

Controlling this spacing helps the nanospheres arrange themselves into more orderly structures. A more organized arrangement reduces unwanted diffuse reflection and allows more controlled reflection of light.

The result is a surface that can maintain its structural color while also producing a much more attractive glossy appearance.

This combination is important because many existing structural-color systems face a trade-off between optical performance, protection and practical usability.

Glossy Color on Complex 3D Objects

In a study published in Small Structures, the researchers demonstrated that their technology could create glossy structural-color coatings on large three-dimensional objects.

This is a significant step toward real-world applications.

Many advanced optical coatings work well on flat laboratory samples but become difficult to use on curved or complicated surfaces. The Kobe University team showed that its silicon nanosphere coating can conform to 3D surfaces while maintaining its optical properties.

The researchers were also able to control the level of gloss.

Even more importantly, they found that adding a protective coating did not significantly alter the resulting color. This means the surface can potentially receive additional protection without sacrificing its desired appearance.

The combination of glossiness, noniridescent color, protection and 3D compatibility makes the approach particularly promising.

Extremely Lightweight Color Technology

One of the most striking advantages of the new coating is its low weight.

The researchers achieved high opacity and brightness using just a single layer of silicon nanospheres. Because only a very small amount of material is needed, the coating can be dramatically lighter than conventional paint systems.

The potential impact becomes especially clear when considering aircraft.

Large passenger aircraft can carry coatings that add hundreds of kilograms of weight. If the new technology could eventually be adapted for such applications, the amount of coating material required could potentially fall to only hundreds of grams.

That would represent a remarkable reduction in weight.

Lower aircraft weight can be valuable because reducing weight can help improve fuel efficiency and reduce the energy required to operate the aircraft. Of course, significant engineering and safety testing would be needed before such a coating could be used in aviation.

Materials With Environmental Advantages

The researchers also point to the materials themselves as an advantage.

The nanoparticles are made using silicon and silica. Silicon is widely available and can be sourced from the semiconductor industry, while silica is one of the most abundant materials in Earth's crust.

Unlike many organic pigments, structural color does not depend on molecules that gradually break down under light exposure. Its physical origin means the color can potentially remain stable for much longer.

A lightweight, durable and nonfading coating could therefore reduce material consumption over the lifetime of a product.

However, the overall environmental impact would still depend on factors such as manufacturing energy, production scale, recycling and the lifetime of the coated object.

Beyond Paint: Sensors and Energy Applications

The researchers are already considering how the technology could move beyond traditional color coatings.

Sugimoto is involved in efforts to scale up production for industrial applications. Importantly, the coating process is compatible with established manufacturing techniques, including spray coating, slot-die coating and roll-to-roll processing.

These methods could make it easier to produce the coatings over large areas rather than limiting the technology to small laboratory samples.

The underlying science could also lead to multifunctional coatings.

Future versions might combine structural color with technologies for sensing, photocatalysis and energy management. That could turn the coating from a purely decorative material into a functional surface capable of interacting with its environment.

For example, a future coating could potentially provide a specific color while also responding to environmental changes or helping manage how a surface interacts with light.

A New Direction for Surface Technology

The development of glossy silicon nanosphere coatings represents an important step in the evolution of structural color. Instead of choosing between vivid color, durability, gloss, protection and low weight, researchers are working toward combining these properties in one coating platform.

The study, led by Jialu Song and colleagues, demonstrates that all-dielectric silicon nanoparticle monolayers can create glossy yet noniridescent structural color on three-dimensional objects, while remaining compatible with protective coatings.

Although the technology still needs further development before widespread commercial use, its potential is broad. From lighter aircraft and durable industrial surfaces to smart sensors and energy-related technologies, silicon nanoparticle coatings could redefine what a colored surface can do.

Reference: Jialu Song et al., “Glossy yet Noniridescent Conformal Structural Color Coating of Three-Dimensional Objects With All-Dielectric Nanoparticle Monolayers,” Small Structures (2026). DOI: 10.1002/sstr.70600.

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