India’s leading glass portal
  • Home
  • About Glazette
  •                                       
  •             
  • Register
  • |
  • Sign-in
G+FacebookTwitterYoutubeRSSLinked In
  • FEATURES
  • VIDEOS
  • WEBINARS
  • GLASS RESOURCES
    • Processing Glass
      • Tempered Glass
      • Heat Strengthened Glass
      • Laminated Glass
      • Insulated Glass
      • Ceramic Printed Glass
      • Heat Soaked Glass
      • Fire Resistant Glass
      • Low-emission GLass
      • Reflective glass
    • History of Glass making
      • Disc process
      • Glass History
    • Float Glass
      • Float Glass Production Process
    • Glass Types
      • Bullet Proof Glass
      • Self-Cleaning Glass
      • Body-tinted Glass
      • Etched Glass
      • Acid-Etched Glass
      • Low-emission GLass
      • Sandblasted Glass
      • Liquid Crystal Glass
      • Photovoltaic Glass
      • Bent Glass
      • Enamelled Glass
      • Electrically Heated Glass
      • Electrochromic Glass
      • Electrochromic Vacuum Glass
      • Satin Glass
      • Burmese Glass
      • Annealed Glass
      • Crown Glass
      • Dichroic glass
      • Tiffany Glass
      • Fused glass
      • Wired Glass
      • Chemically Strengthened Glass
      • Patterned glass
      • Frosted glass
      • Smart Glass
      • Spandrel Glass
      • Foam Glass
      • Anti-Fogging Glass
      • Hurricane-Resistant Glass / Hurricane Proof Glass
    • Tools & Calculators
  • CONTESTS
    • Transparence 2014
    • World Habitat Day 2011
      • Quiz
      • My Green City
      • Wall Poster
    • Bio Diversity 2011
    • Creativity & Innovation
    • Green Building Contest
    • NASA Utopia 10
      • Express Yourself
      • Beyond the Break
      • May I Help You
      • La Dicte
      • Caught in the Web
      • Style Icon
      • Twitter
  • JOBS
    • Search Jobs
    • Add Jobs
  • MEMBERS
    • Membership Benefits
    • Become a Member
    • Women's Day 2012 Featured Members
    • Associate Club Members
  • SEARCH
    • Custom Search
    • Search for Member
    • Advanced Member Search
Anti-Fogging Glass

Anti-fogging glassCar windows, eyeglasses, camera lenses, even our bathroom mirrors are all victims of the frustrating effects of fogging. Fogging can pose hazard when it inflicts automobile windscreens; glass fogs up when warm, moist air comes into contact with it and cools to form thousands of tiny water droplets on the glass. The droplets scatter light, reducing the visibility through the glass.

Existing Technology

Fog is caused when steam condenses on a cool surface and then forms minuscule water droplets due to the water^s surface tension. Water molecules are more attracted to each other than to air molecules and form a spherical shape to maximise contact between water molecules, which leaves as few as possible exposed to the air.

But water is also attracted to glass, and if this attraction is enhanced, it can overcome the surface tension. Previous anti-fog coatings have capitalised on this using titanium dioxide surfaces which increase the attraction between the water and glass. This overcomes surface tension so the water spreads out in sheets.

However, these coatings first need to be charged by UV light which means they do not work for long in the dark. And they tend to stop working altogether after three months.

Latest Anti-Fogging Glass


Super-hydrophillic

Super-hydrophillic - water loving - coating is composed of nano-particles made of silica, the same material that glass is made from, to create a coating with a rough surface, although it looks smooth to the naked eye. Polymer chains are used to assemble these very tiny particles of Glass onto a surface. A polymer chain is a long chain-like molecule with positive charge and the glass particles with negative charge are taken. So positive to negative attractive force can be used to build these layers up onto the surface. The net result is we create a very porous coating, that is, a coating that has lots of holes in it.

The silica particles form layers of tiny pores, each a thousand times smaller than the width of a human hair. The pores attract the tiny droplets of water that make up the foggy surface. Stacked ten to twenty layers thick, with air pockets in between, these pores create what^s called a "wicking" effect, which forms the water droplets into a uniform sheet. When a droplet is dropped on that surface, the water is drawn into these pores instantaneously and wicked away into a uniform sheet. The result is no water droplets on the surface that can scatter light and a nice transparent lens in this case.

This cheaply produced technology added benefit of increasing the clarity of unfogged glass. It reduces the glare and allows more than 99 percent of light to pass through the glass, compared to untreated glass that scatters between four and eight percent of light. Because of the thin film coating that is filled with holes, it means that the coating also acts as an anti-reflection coating. That is, it will allow more light to pass through.

The super-hydrophilic materials with self-cleaning action are currently in use for side view mirrors of vehicles and exterior materials of buildings.

Super-hydrophobic

Super-hydrophobic - water-fearing – coating is made by adding a second, ultra-thin layer of water-repelling molecules. Then the large surface area created by the roughness of the surface has the opposite effect. It increases the repulsion between the water and glass, causing the water to form droplets.

These could be used to form self-cleaning surfaces, where water that lands on the surface is snapped up into droplets that grow larger and larger until they finally roll away, taking the dirt with them. This is the method a lotus leaf naturally uses to clean itself.

Application

•    Windshields and windows
•    Solar panels
•    Lenses for cameras, endoscopes, laparoscopes, and other optical devices
•    Eyewear – goggles and glasses
•    Dental mirrors

Advantages

•    Stable over time
•    Inexpensive
•    Does not require UV-light activation
•    Excellent optical properties (high transmittance; low reflectance and refractive index)
 

 
Glazette
Thought Leaders

Rajan Govind
Glass Academy Board Member
& Facade Specialist, BES Consultants


M Anand
Senior Counsellor – CII GBC
R Subramanian
Chairman – Glazing Society of India

Sriram N
IGBC accredited Professional & GRIHA Trainer

Deepa Sathiaram
Founder – Director, EN3 LEED Professional

S Srinivas
Principle Counsellor - IGBC LEED accredited Professional

Quick Search
Members (13136)
Become a Member of India's Leading Glass Portal - Join Now!

Architects  (4770)
Builders  (556)
Dealers  (479)
Fabricators  (874)
Facade Consultants  (324)
Guest Users  (1530)
HVAC Consultants  (80)
Interior Designers  (1647)
Processors  (138)
Students  (2649)
Window Makers  (89)


Newsletter Sign-up


Subscribe to get updates on glass, architecture,green movement, design trends in glass, events for students
Glass Knowledge Bank
Tempered Glass
Heat Strengthened Glass
Laminated Glass
Insulated Glass
Ceramic Printed Glass
Heat Soaked Glass
Fire Resistant Glass
Low-emission GLass
Reflective glass
Disc process
Glass History
Float Glass Production
Bullet Proof Glass
Self-Cleaning Glass
Body-tinted Glass
Etched Glass
Acid-Etched Glass
Low-emission GLass
Enamelled Glass
Photovoltaic Glass
Sandblasted Glass
Bent Glass
Smart Glass
Tiffany Glass
Crown Glass
Wired Glass
Green Buildings
Electrochromic Glass
Sustainable Design
Liquid Crystal Glass
Spandrel Glass
Fire Resistant Glass
Ceramic Printed Glass
Electrically Heated Glass
Glass History
LEED | BEE
© The Glass Portal with Resources on Glass in Green and Sustainable Architecture, Interior Design and Innovations in Glass.
No part of this site should be used in any other media without prior permission. Terms of Use and Legal Disclaimer   |   Contact Site Admin   |   Sitemap
Website Design and Online Marketing: Niyati