Scientists in China have developed a coating material that could extend a knife's sharpness by 100 times, SCMP reports.
The anti-wear coating film was developed by Professor Huang Feng’s team at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Ningbo Institute of Material Technology and Engineering.
The results of their tests have been published in numerous international journals such as Surface and Coatings Technology and Wear this year.
Huang said the “super” anti-wear film not only has uses in the kitchen but can be used in manufacturing – potentially increasing products’ lifespan and in turn boosting the competiveness of Chinese heavy industries.
It takes 1,000 repetitive grindings, under the force of 10,000 times the atmospheric pressure to wear off one layer of atoms on the anti-wear coating.“If applied to a kitchen knife, the lifespan of the knife may be extended beyond the life of its user,” Huang told the South China Morning Post.
The coating film is made of various nitrogenised metals such as chrome and vanadium. It is only a few micrometres thin and can be applied on almost any mechanical surface, Huang said.
Huang's team are currently trying to find a Chinese factory that will use the coating.
“If the government can subsidise manufacturers for the technological upgrade and the entrepreneurs can give scientists a bit more time, in a decade the best kitchen knives or industrial cutters may no longer be ‘Made in Germany’, but ‘Made in China'," he told SCMP.
[Image via Flickr]
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