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Spray-on glass is set to change our lives

Post Time:Aug 26,2010Classify:Glass QuotationView:731

Just think: with a soon-to-be-released nanotechnology product called spray-on liquid glass, you can clean your bathroom but once per year. Yes, you read that correctly. And, if that’s not enough to send a tingle down every homeowner’s spine, this product is set to revolutionize aspects of several other key industries, such as food service, medical supplies, hospital operations, and even the wine industry.

 

The product, set to be released sometime this year in various home improvement stores, is being manufactured by a family-owned German company, Nanopool. Spray-on liquid glass is comprised of almost 100% pure silicon dioxide (SiO2), derived from quartz sand, that’s then mixed with a small amount of water or ethanol depending on the surface to which it will be applied. This glass coating is approximately 100 nanometers thick. The thickness of a human hair is roughly 100,000 nanometers, so this tells us that when applied, spray-on liquid glass is just 1/1000th the width of a human hair in thickness. Yet, it’s said to be amazingly strong and long-lasting.

 

Liquid glass is clear, undetectable to the naked eye, extremely durable, non-toxic, easy-to-clean, and when dry is said to repel dirt, water, UV light, heat, and even certain acids. It quickly bonds to almost any surface and once applied, lasts for up to a year. But, one of the most compelling aspects of spray-on liquid glass is that it’s antibacterial. Apparently, when microbes land on the glass surface, they are unable to effectively replicate, so the coating remains almost completely sterile for months.

 

The PhysOrg.com website says this about the product: “Food processing companies in Germany have already carried out trials of the spray, and found sterile surfaces that usually needed to be cleaned with strong bleach to keep them sterile needed only a hot water rinse if they were coated with liquid glass.”

 

Because liquid glass is so thin, it’s very pliable, and that makes it ideal for a wide variety of uses: coating medical and restaurant equipment to treating wood products for termite prevention, applying it to precious monuments and buildings to protect them from vandalism and damage from pollution, and even using the glass as stain repellent on clothing. And, because the coating is so thin and breathable, trials have shown that using spray-on liquid glass on grape vines protects the plants from a deadly fungus, while seeds dipped in the coating before germination are said to grow faster.

 

Much of the information encountered for this article appears to be anecdotal in that lots of claims are being made about the versatility and wonderment of this product but little science appears to have been conducted thus far, or if it has been conducted, it’s not readily available on the net.

 

Several public posts to an article on the PhysOrg.com website mention a disease called Silicosis. This disease affects the lungs of people who conduct hazardous work in mines or sandblasting operations. So, the fear is that an unsafe accumulation of silicon dioxide in the lungs would be the result of a product that can be sprayed on by the consumer and then once dry could leave silicon dioxide molecules in the air. One contributor to the site brings up another good point - that we need to consider the small size of nano-particles. Nano-particles are so small that they can be absorbed by living cells and possibly cause disruptions to cell function.

 

Before we begin using liquid glass on food preparation items or medical equipment, we need to know what we’re dealing with and how the product will affect the body. Further testing is required, because by the sound of it, spray-on liquid glass is likely to show up in hundreds, if not thousands of applications across a wide spectrum of products, many of which we, the buying public, will have no control over.

 

If reports about spray-on liquid glass are true and the product is found to be safe, this coating could revolutionize key industries and aspects of our everyday lives. From food preparation to protecting surfaces against water, mildew, and sun damage, spray-on liquid glass would be yet another living example of the power and potential of the nano-particle.

 

Liz Casey of ButterFat Writing Services, Inc. (www.butterfatwriting.com) provides robust copy and technical writing for clients who want their written collateral to effectively communicate and make them money. She is a member of the Redwood Technology Consortium (www.redwoodtech.org).

Source: http://www.redwoodtimes.com/schools/ci_15890909Author: shangyi

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