--- title: Watch Water Droplets Literally Bounce Off This Hydrophobic Metal description: Researchers used lasers to create a water-repelling metal surface that acts like a trampoline for water droplets. canonical: https://time.com/3678556/water-metal-hydrophobic-discovery/ author: Noah Rayman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-22T17:11:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T03:47:48.934Z article:section: Science og:title: Watch Water Droplets Literally Bounce Off This Hydrophobic Metal og:description: Researchers used lasers to create a water-repelling metal surface that acts like a trampoline for water droplets. og:url: https://time.com/3678556/water-metal-hydrophobic-discovery/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch Water Droplets Literally Bounce Off This Hydrophobic Metal twitter:description: Researchers used lasers to create a water-repelling metal surface that acts like a trampoline for water droplets. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Watch Droplets Bounce Off Amazing New Water-Repellent Metal  by [Noah Rayman](https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Jan 22, 2015 5:11 PM UTC  by [Noah Rayman](https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Jan 22, 2015 5:11 PM UTC Scientists have used lasers to create a water-repelling metal surface that acts like a trampoline for water droplets. Researchers at the University of Rochester, who published [an article in the _Journal of Applied Physics_](http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/journal/jap/117/3/10.1063/1.4905616) this week, used lasers to etch micro- and nanoscale structures into a metal surface that make it almost completely water-repellent, or hydrophobic. The material could have a transformative impact on everything from aviation to sanitation, Chunlei Guo, a professor of optics and co-author of the study said in a press release and accompanying [explanatory video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLegmQ8%5FdHg). Airplane surfaces, for example, could use the material to repel water and prevent surface freezing. The metal surface is more effective than traditional chemical-based surfaces like Teflon and, because it’s a structural alteration, doesn’t wear off. “The material is so strongly water-repellent, the water actually gets bounced off,” Guo said in a statement. “Then it lands on the surface again, gets bounced off again, and then it will just roll off from the surface.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3678556/water-metal-hydrophobic-discovery/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3678556/water-metal-hydrophobic-discovery/"},"headline":"Watch Droplets Bounce Off Amazing New Water-Repellent Metal","datePublished":"2015-01-22T17:11:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:47:48.934Z","description":"The laser-etched material is more effective than traditional hydrophobic chemical coatings.","url":"https://time.com/3678556/water-metal-hydrophobic-discovery/","keywords":["Physics","Water","Chemistry"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Noah Rayman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/physics/","name":"Physics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3678556/water-metal-hydrophobic-discovery/","name":"Watch Droplets Bounce Off Amazing New Water-Repellent Metal"}}]}] ```