Researchers have created the first environmentally friendly, large-scale and multicolor alternative to pigment-based colorants. The research group innovated a plasmonic paint, which utilizes nanoscale structural arrangement of colorless materials—aluminum and aluminum oxide—instead of pigments to create colors. Because plasmonic paint reflects the entire infrared spectrum, less heat is absorbed by the paint, resulting in the underneath surface staying 25 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than it would if it were covered with standard commercial paint. The temperature difference would lead to significant energy savings. Plasmonic paint is also extremely lightweight, with full coloration achieved at a paint thickness of only 150 nanometers, making it the lightest paint in the world.