Cheap paint to protect against high-speed wireless developed

London, Jan 20 (ANI): Researchers from University of Tokyo have developed a new metal-rich coating, which will protect sensitive equipments in medical areas, labs, or aeroplanes from the effects of high-speed wireless communications.

The new wireless communications use electromagnetic waves with a frequency of over 100 gigahertz, but the best wave absorbers commercially available are effective only up to around half that, reports New Scientist.

The wave absorbers can block electromagnetic (EM) waves when a material's magnetic field resonates at the same frequency as the wave.

The protective cover of the sensitive electronic equipment like that used in hospitals is becoming increasingly obsolete with the use of new, higher frequencies to send data.

The standard oxide coating used includes barium as well as iron, which have a maximum resonance frequency at 48 GHz.

The researchers have found a new aluminium iron oxide, which when incorporated in paint, is capable to block waves with a frequency almost four times higher.

With the help of a sensitive magnetometer, the team led by Shin-ichi found that the new oxide could absorb EM waves of up to 182 GHz at room temperature.

Moreover, the paint would be relatively cheaper as aluminium and iron are abundant materials.

The study appears in Journal of the American Chemical Society. (ANI)