MIT's Glare Free, Self-Cleaning, Fog Resisting Glass Is Clearly Awesome!

The mechanical and chemical engineers at MIT got together to develop a glass that virtually eliminates reflection and makes water droplets bounce right off like tiny rubber balls. The glass is almost unrecognizable because of the absence of glare. The research engineers have discovered a new way of creating surface nano-textures on glass that makes it multi-functional. The technology has been described in a #-Link-Snipped-# published in the journal ACS Nano.



The surface pattern comprises of an array of nanoscale cones 5x the base width of 200 nm. This has been made possible because of the new patent-pending fabrication method developed by MIT's engineers. The team used coating and etching technology adapted from the semiconductor industry. Fabrication involves coating glass surface with several layers, including the photoresist layer. It's then illuminated with grid pattern and etched away.


Image Credit: Hyungryul Choi and Kyoo-Chul Park

Kyoo-Chul Park, one of the co-authors of the paper talks about the advantages of this glass. According to Park, Photovoltaic panels can lose about 40% of their total efficiency within 6 months because of accumulation of dirt and dust on their surface. Park says that the new glass could help in eliminating that problem to a greater extent. The glass would allow more light to pass through it resulting into making the light to electricity conversion process more efficient. Another interesting application of the glass could be in microscopes and cameras required to be used in humid environments. If the manufacturing costs of the glass are brought down; we may even see car shields using this technology.

Via: #-Link-Snipped-#