Scientists at the ETH Zurich Research Institute, in Switzerland, announced the discovery of a new type of coating capable of heating glass and preventing fogging, which solves a problem that greatly disturbs people who need something that can be seen.
The findings, after three years of research, were published in Nature Nanotechnology last week. Unfortunately, there is still no forecast for commercial production of the solution.
Fogging-lens glasses have been a problem since the advent of optical lenses, but it peaked during the pandemic when all eyeglass-wearers discovered the tricky way most masks squirt their breath toward the eye. With this in mind, researchers have developed a method to try to reverse the problem.
Gold is the secret of the solution
Knowing that heat is the best way to keep a glass surface fog-free, the new coating material uses gold nanoparticles that absorb light rather than electricity to do so.
The device uses a layer of clustered gold nanoparticles sandwiched between two very thin layers of titanium oxide. The entire coating thickness is only 10 nanometers.
The coating is able to absorb infrared radiation from the sun and thus heat the lens glass up to 8 degrees Celsius.
The researchers claim that the refractive properties of titanium oxide increase the efficiency of the heating effect, while the outer layer helps protect the gold from corrosion and damage.
When there is no direct sunlight, the gold layer can help conduct electricity, like a battery, and continue to heat the paint in the same way.
It’s gold nanoparticles, so the coating isn’t very expensive, the researchers said in The Guardian.
However, scientists have already announced that they are looking for lower value materials to popularize the coating as quickly as possible.
According to the team of scientists, the way you avoid fogging up the glass can also help your car windshields in the future.
