{"id":30378,"date":"2022-12-13T15:53:58","date_gmt":"2022-12-13T16:53:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/?p=30378"},"modified":"2022-12-13T17:48:49","modified_gmt":"2022-12-13T17:48:49","slug":"scientists-develop-transparent-sun-activated-coating-that-prevents-glass-fogging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/2022\/12\/13\/scientists-develop-transparent-sun-activated-coating-that-prevents-glass-fogging\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists Develop Transparent, Sun-Activated Coating That Prevents Glass Fogging"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(Image: ETH Zurich)<\/small><\/div>\n

If you wear glasses, you probably know how annoying it is for your lenses to fog up as you sip on a hot beverage or step into a warm and humid environment. Just as frustrating (yet perhaps more dangerous) is your windshield\u2019s tendency to cloud when it\u2019s cold outside and you\u2019re cranking up the heater. Thankfully, there appears to be a new way to stop inconvenient fogging from happening in the first place\u2014no electricity required.<\/p>\n

A group of scientists at Switzerland\u2019s ETH Zurich has created a thin and transparent coating that, when applied to glass and other clear surfaces, operates as an anti-fog barrier. Using nucleation thermodynamics and a handful of common manufacturing methods, the team of thermodynamics experts and surface nanoengineers created their own metamaterial, or a substance that\u2019s been built to possess a property that doesn\u2019t occur naturally. Metamaterials are frequently used in solar power management, optical filters, medical equipment, and other applications, and they often contain the not-so-secret ingredient used in ETH Zurich\u2019s coating: gold.<\/p>\n

The team\u2019s anti-fog coating includes a nanoscopic gold layer, which is sandwiched between two layers of the insulator titanium oxide. The clusters of gold in the middle barely touch each other, which allows them to absorb infrared solar radiation. This increases the coated material\u2019s temperature by 8 degrees Celsius (46 degrees Fahrenheit). The heat is what prevents humidity-induced condensation from forming on the coated material.<\/p>\n

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(Image: ETH Zurich)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In a paper<\/a> published Monday in the journal Nature Nanotechnology<\/em>, the scientists say their coating produces a four-fold improvement in fog prevention and a three-fold improvement in fog removal. Because the coating is transparent, it could be used on vehicular and residential windows, eyeglasses, and glass displays. It\u2019s only 10 nanometers thick, too (or 0.01 percent as thick as a sheet of standard printer paper), meaning the coating won\u2019t add bulk to applicable materials. In fact, most people wouldn\u2019t find it noticeable at all, especially on tinted surfaces. The scientists note that the coating won\u2019t heat up vehicles or glasses, either, since the gold layer only absorbs a small portion of the sun\u2019s radiation.<\/p>\n

The gold-based coating is categorized as a \u201cpassively heated surface coating\u201d\u2014a category that the ETH Zurich team has worked on for a few years<\/a>. Since the iteration they first published in 2019, the coating has become thinner and more pliable, making it more practical in real-world applications. It also contains less gold than it originally did. Nonetheless, the scientists are moving toward testing different metals within the coating\u2019s conductive layer in an effort to make their patent-pending product more affordable.<\/p>\n

Now Read:<\/b><\/p>\n

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