Chinese Scientists Invent A Self-Cleaning Toilet That Needs Nothing to Work

It’s not Teflon but nothing can stick to this toilet! Scientists at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, China, introduced a 3D printed toilet that could see the end of traditional porcelain and ceramic toilets.

This 3D-printed toilet is so slippery, nothing can stick to it, and the video below looks like it could even put Teflon to shame.

A high end toilet or a high tech toilet?

The 3D-printed toilet is made by a laser that fuses together plastic and hydrophobic sand. The toilet is then lubricated by a silicon oil that penetrates the surface, creating a super-durable coating. Even after rubbing it with sandpaper more than 1000 times, the toilet remains just as slippery thanks to the lubricant oil sitting below the rubbed-away surface.

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How the self cleaning toilet works

Essentially, thanks to this manufacturing process, this 3D-printed toilet is a self-cleaning toilet that requires no maintenance and chemicals to keep it clean.

“Unlike traditional super-slippery surfaces with limited thicknesses which can be easily worn away, the powder-sintered strategy endows the ARSFT not only with a self-supporting 3D complex shape but also with a porous structure that can accommodate considerable lubricants for an abrasion-resistant super-slippery property. As a result, the as-prepared ARSFT remains clean after contacting with various liquids such as milk, yogurt, highly sticky honey, and starch gel mixed congee, demonstrating excellent repellence to complex fluids,” the creators write in their paper. 

Yike Li, the creator of the toilet, sees the invention as a great addition to public bathrooms and trains.

The reduced flushing volume would result in less wasted water during transportation to the processing facilities, thereby saving transportation costs,” he was quoted by NewScientist.

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Image by 德钦 赵 on Pixabay