Today there are two main methods for waterproofing a smartphone: physical barriers such as port covers and sealed seams that prevent liquid entering externally, and nanocoatings that penetrate the device entirely and actively repel water. While both techniques are used, the most effective is the latter, enabling devices to be water resistant without compromising on size and aesthetics. There are different types of nanocoating, but one of the most commonly used is that made by P2i. This company’s waterproofing process involves subjecting any electronic gizmo to a plasmaenhanced vapour in a vacuum chamber at room temperature. The vapour contains a gaseous polymer, which when brought into contact with the device’s surfaces – both external and internal – forms a superstrong covalent bond and waterproof barrier 1,000 times thinner than a human hair. Once on the phone, the ultra-thin polymer layer then dramatically reduces its surface energy, forcing any water that comes into contact with it to bead up and be repelled. Obviously, in the case of a smartphone, this action would prevent water from penetrating the delicate internal components. However, due to the vapour disposition process, even if water were to penetrate the mobile’s casing, each internal component would also be coated with the polymer, protecting them until the water evaporated or was dried off manually.
