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New anti-frost and anti-fog coating for glass

Date:
February 27, 2013
Source:
American Chemical Society
Summary:
In an advance toward glass that remains clear under the harshest of conditions, scientists are reporting development of a new water-repellant coating that resists both fogging and frosting. Their research on the coating could have uses ranging from automobile windshields to camera lenses.
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In an advance toward glass that remains clear under the harshest of conditions, scientists are reporting development of a new water-repellant coating that resists both fogging and frosting. Their research on the coating, which could have uses ranging from automobile windshields to camera lenses, appears in the journal ACS Nano.

Michael F. Rubner, Robert E. Cohen and colleagues point out that anti-fogging coatings that absorb water have been the focus of attention lately because of their ability to reduce light scattering and the resultant distortion caused by condensation. However, under extreme fogging conditions, these surfaces may frost and become foggy. They set out to make a better coating to withstand the aggressive conditions.

Their report describes development and testing of a new coating that rapidly absorbs water molecules that cannot freeze in the coating. At the same time, the coating has a water-repelling or hydrophobic effect to larger water droplets. The hydrophobic character means that water droplets do not spread extensively on the coating but essentially remain as flattened droplets.

The authors acknowledge funding from the Samsung Scholarship and the Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSEC) Program of the National Science Foundation.


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Materials provided by American Chemical Society. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Hyomin Lee, Maria L. Alcaraz, Michael F. Rubner, Robert E. Cohen. Zwitter-Wettability and Antifogging Coatings with Frost-Resisting Capabilities. ACS Nano, 2013; 130204095631007 DOI: 10.1021/nn3057966

Cite This Page:

American Chemical Society. "New anti-frost and anti-fog coating for glass." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 27 February 2013. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227102054.htm>.
American Chemical Society. (2013, February 27). New anti-frost and anti-fog coating for glass. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 28, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227102054.htm
American Chemical Society. "New anti-frost and anti-fog coating for glass." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227102054.htm (accessed March 28, 2024).

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