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Nanotech Coating Prevents Fogging
MilSF1 writes "MIT scientists have applied for a patent on a coating process that reduces or eliminates fogging on glass surfaces (car windshields, eyeglasses, etc). The new coating was described today at the 230th national meeting of the American Chemical Society."
One of the worst things about wearing glasses up north is the fogging.. being outside in -25c temperatures for even a few minutes and glasses get cold enough that they fog up when paying for gas, or shovelling snow, etc.. pain in the ass. I welcome this new technology :)
I guess not.
Humidity is still there - just not in the form of little droplets.
gtkaml.org
I'm not a raging anti-patent looney screaming about the need for a free utopioan society, but if funding for this was provided by the public, surely the results belong to the public and the methods belong in the public domain rather than to MIT for the next 17-34 years.
woof.
It's being called nanotech because it uses nanoparticles, very small groupings of atoms, containing 100s or 1000s of atoms. Government money for nanotech research applies if you're working with objects smaller than 100nm in some dimension. IIRC, carbon nanotubes are sized roughly 5nm and larger in diameter.
The current state of the art of nanotech is not nanobots that can cure cancer. That's just what people speculate might come out of this technology, but how often is such exhuberance warranted? where's my flying car?
Also, by the way, something one micron across would be microtech by definition, not nanotech, but that's more me being a stickler than informative...
So did MIT do their background research before starting this patents application?
Those products appear to be using (a) an attachable "sticker" or (b) a spray. Neither of which I would call particularly permanent. Anti-fog coatings (in general) have been around for years. The concept of applying them at manufacturing time using the particular process detailed in TFA is presumably the novel basis on which they are applying for a patent. If not, one would hope the Patents office will deny them the patent.
From TFA:
"The team has developed a unique polymer coating - made of silica nanoparticles - that they say can create surfaces that never fog."
"Some stores carry special anti-fog sprays that help reduce fogging on the inside of car windows, but the sprays must be constantly reapplied to remain effective."
So yes, I'm guessing they did do their background research. Did you, before posting? For example, by reading TFA?
So why is anything being called nanotech?
Nanotech is a buzzword. It doesn't really mean anything. It's never meant anything. It's just a new word used by chemists, solid state physicists, and others to get funding and excitement around the same stuff they've been doing for quite some time.