A Window into New Coatings

摘要

Recent advances in coatings for glass could directly have an impact on very diverse applications, including helping people and birds, plus boosting the efficiency of solar cells, and much more. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research ISC in Wurzburg, Germany, have developed an ultrathin inorganic coating that enables glass to transmit more light in the blue part of the spectrum. European insulating glass manufacturer ARNOLD GLAS has used the fact that birds can see ultraviolet wavelengths to produce ORNILUX~R Bird Protection Glass with a patterned, UV-reflective and low-E or solar control coating that provides bird strike protection and energy efficiency. Meanwhile, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), scientists have engineered a simple, layered coating process that produces controlled, wrinkled surfaces that have many potential applications, including photonic devices that can control light waves and anti-reflective coatings.