Spray-on liquid glass is about to revolutionize almost everything

PhysOrg ^ | 2/2/10 | Lin Edwards

[LibWhacker]

(PhysOrg.com) -- Spray-on liquid glass is transparent, non-toxic, and can protect virtually any surface against almost any damage from hazards such as water, UV radiation, dirt, heat, and bacterial infections. The coating is also flexible and breathable, which makes it suitable for use on an enormous array of products.

The liquid glass spray (technically termed “SiO2 ultra-thin layering”) consists of almost pure silicon dioxide (silica, the normal compound in glass) extracted from quartz sand. Water or ethanol is added, depending on the type of surface to be coated. There are no additives, and the nano-scale glass coating bonds to the surface because of the quantum forces involved. According to the manufacturers, liquid glass has a long-lasting antibacterial effect because microbes landing on the surface cannot divide or replicate easily.

Liquid glass was invented in Turkey and the patent is held by Nanopool, a family-owned German company. Research on the product was carried out at the Saarbrücken Institute for New Materials. Nanopool is already in negotiations in the UK with a number of companies and with the National Health Service, with a view to its widespread adoption.

The liquid glass spray produces a water-resistant coating only around 100 nanometers (15-30 molecules) thick. On this nanoscale the glass is highly flexible and breathable. The coating is environmentally harmless and non-toxic, and easy to clean using only water or a simple wipe with a damp cloth. It repels bacteria, water and dirt, and resists heat, UV light and even acids. UK project manager with Nanopool, Neil McClelland, said soon almost every product you purchase will be coated with liquid glass.

Food processing companies in Germany have already carried out trials of the spray, and found sterile surfaces that usually needed to be cleaned with strong bleach to keep them sterile needed only a hot water rinse if they were coated with liquid glass. The levels of sterility were higher for the glass-coated surfaces, and the surfaces remained sterile for months.

Other organizations, such as a train company and a hotel chain in the UK, and a hamburger chain in Germany, are also testing liquid glass for a wide range of uses. A year-long trial of the spray in a Lancashire hospital also produced “very promising” results for a range of applications including coatings for equipment, medical implants, catheters, sutures and bandages. The war graves association in the UK is investigating using the spray to treat stone monuments and grave stones, since trials have shown the coating protects against weathering and graffiti. Trials in Turkey are testing the product on monuments such as the Ataturk Mausoleum in Ankara.

The liquid glass coating is breathable, which means it can be used on plants and seeds. Trials in vineyards have found spraying vines increases their resistance to fungal diseases, while other tests have shown sprayed seeds germinate and grow faster than untreated seeds, and coated wood is not attacked by termites. Other vineyard applications include coating corks with liquid glass to prevent “corking” and contamination of wine. The spray cannot be seen by the naked eye, which means it could also be used to treat clothing and other materials to make them stain-resistant. McClelland said you can “pour a bottle of wine over an expensive silk shirt and it will come right off”.

In the home, spray-on glass would eliminate the need for scrubbing and make most cleaning products obsolete. Since it is available in both water-based and alcohol-based solutions, it can be used in the oven, in bathrooms, tiles, sinks, and almost every other surface in the home, and one spray is said to last a year.

Liquid glass spray is perhaps the most important nanotechnology product to emerge to date. It will be available in DIY stores in Britain soon, with prices starting at around £5 ($8 US). Other outlets, such as many supermarkets, may be unwilling to stock the products because they make enormous profits from cleaning products that need to be replaced regularly, and liquid glass would make virtually all of them obsolete.

[B-Chan]

APPLY DIRECTLY TO FOREHEAD

[dalereed]

I’ve done it several times to prove it to people.

[agere_contra]

Notice how the glass appears wavy, distorted?

Old buildings (ones erected before the invention of flat glass) have windows made from spun glass - made by spinning a disc of molten glass and cutting bits from the cooled disc. Window glass from such a source could very well appear distorted, especially if you used an edge piece.

[The Antiyuppie]

“Ever see windows in an old building? Notice how the glass appears wavy, distorted? That’s because glass, a liquid, has been running and settling over the years in the window frame.”

No, this is because the modern “tin float” method of making sheet glass is so superior to the older ways of doing it.

However, glass DOES very, very slightly flow over many decades. Telescope lenses and mirrors lose their figure over these time periods. It isn’t much, but telescope mirrors and lenses are figured to incredible accuracy in order to provide maximum focal sharpness, and even small errors become obvious.

[krb]

You’ve made glass, measured it, aged it 60 years, then measured it again?

[dalereed]

All plate is the same thickness when it’s made.

When doing remodel jobs i’ve taken out old plate and in every case the bottom is larger than the top by a few thousands.

I’m not talking rolled or tempered glass.

Rolled isn’t the same thickness when made and tempered isn’t old enough to find out if it settles.

[zot]

Thanks for the ping. Liquid glass spray is interesting, but I certainly wouldn’t inhale it.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Interesting thought. If it could make hair imprevious to moisture, that would be the end of the dreaded frizzies. And hair washing would basically be reduced to scalp-washing, since everything would easily rinse off the coated hair.

[hattend]

Ever see windows in an old building? Notice how the glass appears wavy, distorted? That’s because glass, a liquid, has been running and settling over the years in the window frame.

Or they made crappy glass way back when. Did you see the pane when it was originally installed?

[chemicalman]

People in liquid spray on glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.

[dfwgator]

Sounds like something Irwin Mainway would sell:

Consumer Reporter: Alright. Fine. Fine. Well, we'd like to show you another one of Mr. Mainway's products. It retails for $1.98, and it's called Bag O' Glass. [ holds up bag of glass ] Mr. Mainway, this is simply a bag of jagged, dangerous, glass bits.

Irwin Mainway: Yeah, right, it's you know, it's glass, it's broken glass, you know? It sells very well, as a matter of fact, you know? It's just broken glass, you know?

Consumer Reporter: [ laughs ] I don't understand. I mean, children could seriously cut themselves on any one of these pieces!

Irwin Mainway: Yeah, well, look - you know, the average kid, he picks up, you know, broken glass anywhere, you know? The beach, the street, garbage cans, parking lots, all over the place in any big city. We're just packaging what the kids want! I mean, it's a creative toy, you know? If you hold this up, you know, you see colors, every color of the rainbow! I mean, it teaches him about light refraction, you know? Prisms, and that stuff! You know what I mean?

[ReneeLynn]

Yep. But I wonder how brushing would go? It’d be great for holding a style.

[Kevmo]

bflr

[UCANSEE2]

The temp chosen for determination of a liquid seems arbitrary.

Temperature measurement in Fahrenheit is an arbitrary system to begin with.

0 degrees and 100 degrees don't even represent a phase change point in anything in particular.

[UCANSEE2]

Liquid glass spray is interesting, but I certainly wouldn’t inhale it.

It's a waste that way. It gets you higher if you intravenously inject it.

[GovernmentShrinker]

If it’s flexible — which I gather it is, since they’re saying it can be used on growing plants and “expensive silk shirts” — I imagine brushing would either go very smoothly or be rendered completely unnecessary.

[txhurl]

I think they should add it to mascara.

[stormer]

There is a movie called "The Man in the White Suit". It's about a chemist who develops an indestructible fabric - it can't be torn, it never wears out, and it sheds soil. It's a dream come true and everyone thinks they'll get rich, until they realize they no longer need to make clothes - the textile mills close, the garment manufacturers fire all the workers, and stores go out of business. For once labor and management agree - get the man who invented the miracle fabric. A tale of unintended consequences.

[toast]

Something ELSE for the muslims to hate us for.

The article said a Turkish company produced it.

[thecodont]

Ah, thanks!