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Self-Cleaning Glass
Chris writes "Consumers across Europe can now purchase self-cleaning glass that promises to keep windows free from dirt. The key to Activ glass is an ultra-thin coating only 40nm thick applied to the glass surface during the manufacturing process. The coating, which is based on titanium dioxide, works by combining the two beneficial effects. First, the ultraviolet wavelengths in sunlight react with a photocatalyst to break down organic debris on the glass. The second feature is that the coating is hydrophilic, meaning that when rain hits the glass, it doesn't form droplets. Rain water flows down the glass in a sheet and washes the dirt away."
When are they going to make my plates and cups self-cleaning too?
... but last night I swear they were serving my beer in a self-emptying glass, and that was much less convenient. This morning, my hangover suggests that I may have been helping out.
Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
If they would only do something for the *inside* that way I don't have to clean those as well!
Unfortunately for us all, if you're holding on to the glass, you're blocking the sunlight necessary for the reaction to work -- and while it may work well for the typical dust and grime particle, I'm sure you'll admit that you're _considerably_ thicker than a layer of dust.
If this stuff works like they say, it would be a great finish coat for cars. Instead of b*tching about it raining right after you give your ride a bath, the rain would *be* the bath! And with much of the country under drought conditions, think of all the water that could be conserved by eliminating the need to wash cars.
Sounds like this would be good for Mars rovers and the like. One of the problems that we have with rovers is that the glass on the photo cells get dirty and degrades the power output of the cells. I know that it doesnt rain on Mars, but this glass and some wind might prevent the degredation from reaching beyond some critical value.
Welcome to the land of the free...pay toll ahead...no photography...please open your bag...
And somewhere out there, there's a Case Modder who just wet his pants.
One cleaner was quoted as saying "as soon as everyone installs these Windows, the traditional squeegee and soap solutions which anyone can use will become extinct. These Windows will dominate the market, leaving only the poor and art-glass people to come up with truly community spirit based solutions with work for great glass cleaning engineers"
Then the skyscraper windowcleaner lift corporation also came in on the act "we can't fit these 'scrapers with our traditional pulley systems any more... sales are plummeting"
Cowboy Neal still manages to stain his new glass though.
Conversion Rate Optimisation French / English consultant
No, I'm pretty sure that it is hydrophilic. Hydrophobic means it repels water, which would cause the water to form droplets, in order to reduce the surface area. Since it's hydrophilic, the water is attracted to the coating, which makes the water sheet.
-David Ziegler
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Are the first two things I want to see this used on.
Then I can see this used on car windows, computer monitors, and other glass surfaces.
III.IIVIVIXIIVIVIIIVVIIIIXVIIIXIIIIIIIIVIIIIVVIII
Read this for more details
bytesmythe
Hypocrisy is the resin that holds the plywood of society together.
-- Scott Meyer
Ah, but on the upside, there's more than enough rain, so the dirst will be washed right off anyway thanks for the hydrophilic coating ;-)
A little planning goes a long way...
That would be a hydrophobic coating. Hydrophilic attracts moisture.
You're on the right track, but reaching the wrong conclusion. A hydrophobic material would cause water to bead up on the surface, as the adhesiveness of the material would be much less than the cohesiveness of the water. This is a hydrophilic material, at least in a sense, because the water adheres to the surface so well that it counters the cohesiveness of the water. I say in a sense, because I think a hydrophilic material usually absorbs water.
Of course, I could be totally off.
"...At the end of the day"..."when everyone goes home, you're stuck with yourself." RIP Layne Staley
Ok, cool, self cleaning windows.
Best application for these will probably be cars.
Question though, what happens if you get something non-organic on it... like spraypaint?
42 - So long and thanks for all the fish.
A few weeks ago I found out that there was a dead bird in my chimney (sp?). I only found out when there where hundreds of flies in my house, all covering the windows. All the shops were closed, so I couldn't buy a spraycan with which to kill all the flies. Openening the windows didn't do the trick so the only viable option left was to swat them. You should have seenm those windows after I was finished. Lots of organic debris on the glass, but there isn't a self-cleaning window in the world that could keep itself clean with a carnage like this.
PPG is one of the largest manufacturers of residential windows and they have produced windows using the self-cleaning coating for several years now.
http://www.ppg.com/gls_sunclean/
maru
You wouldn't want this on your car windows. It would have the opposite effect that RainX produces. Visibility during rain would be very bad.
42
According to Google there are over 1500 references to self cleaning glass, quite a few manufacters are already selling it, Pilkinton (uk glass company) and Sunclean seem to be the market leaders though Pilkington seem to claim "the worlds first". The BBC reported this technology in 2001, in 2002 Saint-Gobain Glass won a Siemens Award for innovation for their version
http://www.ppgsunclean.com/
http://www.activglass.com/
http://www.afgglass.com
http://www.saint-gobain-glass.com
If glass or transparent plastic were a bit cheaper, you could just replace the windows and not need to clean them.
How about a thin plastic film which you spray onto the glass and just peel off when it gets dirty?
-- Ed Avis ed@membled.com
One step closer to transparent aluminum.
(Hello... Computer?)
M@
Krispy Cream is people
I don't know about window glass, but Pyrex's glass bakingware has had a very effective nonstick coating for some years now. Dump out whatever you baked in it, and the dish is almost completely clean, needing only a bit of rinsing to get it squeaky-clean.
The downside is, the nonstick surface scratches very easily, kinda like old-style teflon did.
~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
to waxing the windows on the outside so that rain just streaks away from your field of view in the rain (you should try it - you hardly need to turn on the windshield wipers in lighter rains).
You should really try Rain-X - it works the way you want it to and wipers do not pose a problem.
It would really suck when Pa had to shoot your windows, too.
If your bitterest enemies are people who hack the heads off civilians, then I would say you're doing something right.
With this stuff, we won't need any jizz-moppers anymore! Read on:
Randal: [reading magazine] Have you ever wondered how much the average jizz-mopper makes per hour?
Dante: What's a jizz-mopper?
Randal: He's the guy that cleans up the nudie booth after each guy jerks off.
Dante: Nudie booth?
Randal: Yeah, nudie booth. You've never been in a nudie booth?
Dante: I guess not.
Randal: Oh, it's great. There's this glass wall between you and these chicks, and they put on a show for you for like 10 bucks.
Dante: What kinda show? [customer walks up to counter]
Randal: They do the weirdest, craziest shit you like to see chicks do. They insert things into any opening on their body-ANY opening.
Dante: Could we not talk about this now?
Randal: The jizz-mopper's job is to clean off the glass after each guy shoots a load. I don't know if you noticed, but cum leaves streaks if you don't clean it right away.
Customer: I will never come to this place again!
Dante: I'm sorry? [I could have sworn he says 'excuse me']
Customer: Using filthy language in front of the customers, you both should be fired.
Dante: I'm sorry, I guess we got carried away.
Customer: I don't know if sorry could make up for it, you've highly offended me.
Randal:Well, if you think that's offensive, check this out! [shows him graphic picture from porn mag] I think you can see her kidneys!
Customer: Aaaaargh!
One extra insight -- what does the customer bring up to the counter?? You guessed it! Paper towels and glass cleaner! Hahaha, what an incredible movie
Berto
Is this slated for use in car windshields? If so, I wonder how this will affect the detection range of radar detectors.
A few years ago, there was a study of cars with windshields that use certain tinting and weatherproofing that (incadently) reduces the efficency of radar detectors, cutting detection range from 60-80%. There's some info on it here, and a bit more info here.
-Turkey
coat my 16 month old son with this? He gets dirty within 30 seconds of coming out of the bath.
;-]
Please make sure to leave air and sight holes.
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This has been available in the US for a while.
I've been pricing new windows for my house, and the self-cleaning stuff is an (expensive) upgrade.
Fascism starts when the efficiency of the government becomes more important than the rights of the people.
Actually, the first thing I thought of was the inside of my microwave oven. Damn food splatters everywhere.
Also, would the glass itself stop the portion of the spectrum that activates the cleaning process for any inside layer?
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I was wondering if something similar could not be done for grafitti. You spray a thin coat over a given street sign, for example.
When the "artist" fouls it, you spray on a chemical that dissolves the coating, and the grafitti then flows off with the dissolved coat.
Then hose it down and put on a fresh coat again.
Table-ized A.I.
Solar cells unfortunately need the UV light to fuction properly
That's not true. The spectra of radiation that can be converted to energy by a solar cell is directly related to the bandgap energy of the material the cell is made from, and there is an optimum (for efficiency) bandgap that corresponds to the visible spectrum of light. Most solar cells do not convert significant energy in the UV area of the spectrum
That's part of the reason that solar cells are quoted as being only 10-15% efficient. That's of the total solar spectrum. Most are better than 50% efficient within the relatively narrow part of the spectrum that they are tuned for.
For a little more information, see the ever popular How Stuff Works.
This was announced last year here
"Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney
And we're supposed to pay the slightest sensible attention to an AC who seems to honestly believe that "cancerogenous" is a real word? That's just as bad as the mentions of "meativores" in Jurassic Park.
God bless America(tm)...
My deviantArt site
Europeans often still build homes for themselves and expect to live in them for a lifetime or generations. Then, it makes sense to pay for extra conveniences.
Well, Pilkington does make auto glass -- my new Mitsubishi Diamante has their glass. My guess is that if some European/Asian automaker asks for it, they'll do it if it's technogically feasible (i.e. can it meet safety regs).
Interesting point about radar detectors -- I tend not to use one, since there's not a lot of speed limit enforcement around Atlanta, and the few municipalities that aggressively enforce speed laws tend to use laser rather than radar.
Now LA just needs to convert all their street signs to glass. It might be cheaper than barb wire.
It would be really interesting to have self cleaning monitors. Everyone seems to forget to clean the fingerprint and sneeze crud off of them. Of course, there are no windows anywhere near my cubicle, so glass that uses UV to break down grime is out of the question.