Once again, military technology does it. What it was initially supposed to be was a way to protect soldiers from chemical attacks, and now ways have been found to apply it to our everyday lives. In this technologically advanced era, portable electronics that store our important data is being used at increasing rates in increasing amounts, and protecting these tools is becoming more important.

These small items proved difficult to protect before this technology came about as they had to remain small and the traditional bulky waterproofing methods was simply not viable. This new technology, known as ion-mask, creates a protective layer over virtually any material that is just nanometres thick and it works even with the intricate parts of the electronics that are the circuit boards and processors without causing any damage. This form of protection is achieved via the means of an ionised gas, or “plasma”.

What this coating does is that it causes water to bounce off like beads, such as can be seen on already existing waterproof material. The ion-mask does this by decreasing the surface energy of the material that it coats, which prevents the bonds water molecules from being disrupted as easily as it usually would. Due to how thin the layer is, it is hardly visible and this allows the material to retain all its physical features, such as color, texture and the feel.

Further ahead, this technology can be applied to create completely waterproof electronics that can be used in the shower or even underwater. Products such as mp3 players and headphones could use this technology to allow us to do things in places where electronics could not be used before due to the danger of water damage.

Leading manufacturers were amazed at this new technology when it was demonstrated to them, and many are now considering using ion-mask to enhance the durability and performance of their products.