Plate Nº 97 · recorded October 10, 2026
Chemistry & MaterialsReported finding
Scientists Build Bright White Foam Without Pigments or PFAS
Kyoto researchers created a foam that looks pure white and sheds water, with no titanium dioxide or PFAS. The team reached 20,000 DPI resolution using a light-based process.
By Marcus Bennett3 min read625 words
In brief
- Kyoto University team published the foam platform on September 10, 2026 in Nature
- Process works without TiO2 pigments or PFAS chemicals
- Achievable resolution reaches 20,000 DPI
- Method uses light and a mild solvent on commercially available polymers
- Collaboration included Kyoto University, Tokyo Metropolitan University, and Donghua University
Researchers at Kyoto University have built a foam-based material that looks intensely white and sheds water without titanium dioxide pigments or PFAS chemicals. The team reported the result on September 10, 2026 in the journal Nature.
Why look for alternatives?
White packaging, films, and coatings today often depend on titanium dioxide, known as TiO2. The pigment gives surfaces brightness and opacity. The EU recently banned TiO2 as a food additive over safety concerns.
PFAS form another common class of ingredients. These fluorinated compounds repel water and oil. They persist in the environment for decades, however, and may pose health risks. Regulators worldwide are tightening restrictions on the entire group.
How does it produce white without pigment?
The trick is structure, not chemistry. Snow, clouds, sea spray, and the brilliant whites in Hokusai's woodblock print The Great Wave off Kanagawa all look bright because their microscopic architecture scatters visible light very efficiently. In Hokusai's print, that brightness comes from light bouncing off exposed fibers in the traditional washi paper, which contains no white pigment at all.
The same effect gives many plant tissues their pale color and helps foam-nesting frogs hide their eggs in white blobs.
Materials scientists call this effect structural whiteness. It emerges when countless tiny air pockets or fibers bounce light in many directions. The eye reads the result as bright white, even though no pigment sits on the surface.
The Kyoto team, led by Professor Easan Sivaniah of the university's Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS), set out to engineer that effect on demand. They worked with researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University and Donghua University in China.
What is the manufacturing process?
The team calls the method Deep Foam Photolithography, or DFP. It works on commercially available polymers and runs in three steps:
- Shine light on a polymer film. The light breaks the polymer into smaller molecular fragments.
- Treat the film with a mild solvent. The solvent interacts with those fragments.
- The polymer swells and forms an open network of microscopic pores.
Inside the material, the pore network scatters light so strongly that the surface appears pure white. At the outside, the foam develops a rough texture that mimics lotus leaves and pushes water away in droplets.
Does it work beyond the lab?
The researchers showed the method works on printable polymer films. They also collaborated with textile researchers at Donghua University — one of China's leading textile schools — to test the process on fabrics. Several commercially available polymers worked with DFP.
The printable platform reached a resolution of 20,000 DPI, the team reported. That figure refers to the fine scale at which the method can shape materials, well beyond typical printing.
What did the researchers say?
Associate Professor Taiki Yanagishima of Tokyo Metropolitan University, a co-author, said: "A key challenge faced by biomimetic science is realizing environmentally friendly material designs inspired by nature at the scale and cost of existing materials."
What could it be used for?
The platform could replace TiO2 and PFAS in everyday items such as packaging, coatings, and fabrics. The team highlights three potential benefits:
- Lighter materials
- Reduced reliance on mined mineral pigments
- Reduced reliance on persistent fluorinated chemicals
What are the limits?
The findings come from a single peer-reviewed study. The team has shown the process works on polymer films and on some fabrics, but commercial-scale manufacturing at competitive cost remains untested. Long-term durability under real-world conditions — sunlight, abrasion, washing — also needs more study.
Independent labs have not yet replicated the work. The researchers note that translating lab-scale foam structures into mass production at competitive cost remains the central hurdle.
The study appears in Nature under DOI 10.1038/s41586-026-10968-9.
via dx.doi.org (Original)
More from Marcus Bennett
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News editor covering regulation, policy and their impact on general science news at SciBeat.
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