Some thrifty* types cut open their bottles, while others just bin them — even though there is enough left for a thorough hair wash. But now researchers have solved the dilemma* of squeezing the last drops of shampoo out of a bottle. They have created a lining that will allow soap to pour cleanly out of plastic containers, reducing waste and irritation. The lining is made up of microscopic* quartz structures which, apparently, create air pockets that stop the shampoo touching the side of the bottle. Inventors Bharat Bhushan and Philip Brown said the technique works on polypropylene*, a common plastic used to package foodstuffs and household goods. Bhushan said: “ Coatings already exist to help food, but not soap, pour out of their containers. Compared to soaps, getting ketchup out of a bottle is trivial. Our coating repels liquids in general, but getting it to repel soap was the hard part.” The quartz structures are only a few micrometers across, are as hard as glass and are covered in even tinier branchlike projections. This means the soap is unable to spread across the lining and instead forms into beads which roll across its surface.(SD-Agencies) |