With the rapid growth in small electronic devices such as mobile phones that are required to work both indoors and outdoors, the risk of water ingress and damage to these high value items has grown enormously. Now a new military technology may be able to protect these valuable electronics from the risk of water damage.

Ion-mask, as the product is known is being developed by a company called Hi Tec and is able to modify the surface of virtually any material, applying a protective layer, just nanometers thick, over the surface of the object by means of an ionized gas or “plasma”.Ion-Mask works at a molecular level, binding invisibly to the surfaces of products, giving them an extraordinary ability to repel most liquids. Ion-Mask is transparent and invisible to the naked eye and the treatment not only coats the external surfaces but also the inside without damaging precision circuitry.