Spray-on Glass

[Ken Lee]

"Liquid glass, a revolutionary invisible non-toxic spray that protects against everything from bacteria to UV radiation, could soon be used on a vast range of products."

See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/7125556/Liquid-glass-the-spray-on-scientific-revelation.html

[Stephen Willard]

Interesting....

[JR Steel]

Fascinating. They didn't mention anything about the coating equipment. I would assume it probably would be beyond a consumers reach and probably be some type of vacuum system.

[Nathan Potter]

Hmm, article appears to be to vague to be very useful, but is intriguing. One millionth of a millimeter is a nanometer (10 angstrom units) or about 3 atomic layers. That would be too thin to form a continuous film under any but exceptional deposition conditions so the thickness quoted is not likely to be accurate. One might assume these are nanoparticles of silicon dioxide in a carrier. A more practical thickness would be 10 to 100 nm, or even thicker. A curing cycle involving heat would be likely required, such as has been used for years with spin on glass in the chip industry. Could be a dandy protective coating for many metal LF parts though.

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

[jp]

With it's flexibility, it could be glued on with any adhesive that works with glass. There are numerous adhesives that work well with glass.

They are probably talking a micron rather than a millionth of a millimeter. I work with optical cables and 125 micron is a standard size and is like a really fine hair, so that's probably the ballpark measurements they are estimating with.

I'd like to debate whether a thin layer of glass is waterproof; in fiber optics, water can get into glass and affect it's properties. The articles says the glass would be breathable.

I'd be curious to know whether the product could contribute to silicosis as well (lung cancer from silicon/sand)

It could be an awesome finish for automobile paint jobs. It could be use in the manufacture of high voltage high end capacitors and transformers as a dielectric. It'd make a nice coating for countertops, sinks, televisions, darkroom trays. A possible rust resistant coating for steel parts small and large, pipe linings, etc...

Might make a nice protective coating for silver negatives and inkjet prints too. A new meaning to glass negatives.

[Ken Lee]

I'm wondering if it could be applied to a Pt/Pd print, to increase dMax. The best materials I've found are acrylic, and prone to cracking.