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| Science & Technology |
| New Miracle Material, Spray-on Liquid Glass |
| 2010-02-01 |
| It sounds too good to be true: a non-toxic spray invisible to the human eye that protects almost any surface against dirt and bacteria, whether it is hospital equipment and medical bandages or ancient stone monuments and expensive fabrics. But true it is. The spray is a form of "liquid glass" and is harmless to living things and the wider environment. It is being touted as one of the most important, environmentally-friendly products to emerge from the field of nanotechnology, which deals in objects at the molecular end of the size scale. Tests have revealed an astonishing variety of potential uses for the liquid glass, from protecting vineyards against fungal attacks to coating medical implants with non-stick, antibacterial surfaces. Scientists have even used it to spray fabric with an invisible, dirt-resistant film – emulating the fictional invention of unstainable clothing in the 1951 Ealing comedy The Man in the White Suit. The secret of liquid glass is that it forms an ultra-thin film between 15 and 30 molecules thick – about 500 times thinner than human hair. On this nanoscale – a few millionths of a millimetre thick – liquid glass turns into a highly flexible invisible barrier that repels water, dirt and bacteria, yet is resistant to heat, acids and UV radiation but remains "breathable". A family-owned German company called Nanopool holds patent rights on the technology behind the liquid glass, which emerged from research at the Institute for New Materials in Saarbrücken. Nanopool is already talking to British firms and the NHS about using the product for a diverse range of applications, from coating designer handbags to spraying the nose cones of high-speed trains. All sorts of military applications. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose |
| #2 Transparent aluminum was invented last year: http://www.physorg.com/news167925273.html This year's other invention is steel foam: http://www.livescience.com/technology/081017-bts-metal-foams.html Ain't it grand? |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2010-02-01 21:25 |
| #1 I'd hold out for transparent aluminum. /geek alert |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2010-02-01 21:02 |