The inventors at Ross Nanotechnology (based in Lancaster, PA) accidentally created the spray while searching for a way to protect steel from corrosion. The spray forms a very high contact angle (165°) for any liquid that touches it, so the liquid beads up and rolls off the surface.
From the company's site:
The contact angle of water on a surface is the angle of the leading edge of a water droplet on the surface as measured from the center of the droplet. A surface with a contact angle of 180° would mean that water sits on it as a perfect sphere. Hydrophobic surfaces are measured between 90° and 180°.
When the local press ran an article accompanied by a video, the demo film received 4.8 million views after word spread about the silicon-based spray's ability to repel chocolate syrup.
I've posted the original video below, along with a new video (in which NeverWet employees coat an iPhone, among other things). The official Rust-Oleum video (at the bottom of this post) is slightly more conservative.
For more information, you can request the NeverWet white paper.
Source: Lancaster Online, NeverWet

Brian Albright is the editorial director of Digital Engineering.
Contact him at [email protected].

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