Scientists created the world’s whitest paint. It could eliminate the need for air conditioning.

US professor Xiulin Ruan and his students created the substance, which has made it into the Guinness World Records book, to help combat climate change

The paint reflects 98.1 per cent of solar radiation while also emitting infrared heat, cooling surfaces without consuming power

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Purdue University professor Xiulin Ruan and his students have created the whitest paint on record. Photo: Purdue University

Published: 5:50am, 18 Sep 2021Updated: 6:38am, 21 Sep 2021

The whitest paint in the world has been created in a lab at Purdue University in the US, a paint so white that it could eventually reduce or even eliminate the need for air conditioning, scientists say.

The paint has now made it into the Guinness World Records book as the whitest ever made.

So why did the scientists create such a paint? It turns out that breaking a world record wasn’t the goal of the researchers – curbing global warming was.

“When we started this project about seven years ago, we had saving energy and fighting climate change in mind,” said Xiulin Ruan, a professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue, in a statement.

Purdue University professor Xiulin Ruan and his students have created the whitest paint on record. Photo: Handout

The idea was to make a paint that would reflect sunlight away from a building, researchers said.

Making this paint really reflective, however, also made it really white, according to Purdue University. The paint reflects 98.1 per cent of solar radiation while also emitting infrared heat.

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