Antimicrobial glass market is growing

If you haven’t heard of antimicrobial glass, you’re not alone, but Corning is cornering the market on it. Glass has a number of hygienic properties, not the least of which is that it doesn’t absorb or harbor bacteria. Bacteria can certainly live on the surface of the glass, but unlike porous surfaces, a little “spray and wipe” removes the growth.

Antibacterial glass combats germs on mobile devices

That makes glass an ideal surface for places where a high degree of hygiene is required – like kitchens and bathrooms. But other places may also require a high degree of hygiene. Phones, tablets and other mobile devices outfitted with touch screens get handled a lot. The more hands that handle them, the more likely it is that germs can be passed from person to person.

Enter Corning. Corning’s Gorilla Glass is the go-to choice for mobile devices and high-use touch screens, so it makes sense to find ways to keep Gorilla Glass “clean” from a microbial perspective. In 2014, Corning introduced antimicrobial Gorilla Glass – a version of the company’s super-tough flagship that is coated with ionic silver.

Thanks to silver’s natural “killer instinct,” touch screens that sport the coating are naturally toxic to microbes and germs that might otherwise lie in wait on unprotected glass surfaces. Scientists have long known about silver’s anti-microbial properties. According to the company, antimicrobial Gorilla Glass will put the hurt on hapless algae, mold, mildew, fungi, and bacteria that find their way to a silver-coated touch screen.

The standard approach to cleaning up a grubby touch screen is a liquid cleaner or foam that must be applied periodically. The cleaner kills the unwanted biotics that have been deposited on the screen, but the cleaners don’t persist, so a clean screen will get loaded up again with a veritable living zoo during use. In contrast, the antimicrobial Gorilla Glass is always toxic to living crud, so it works all the time.

Demand for smartphones is expected to be a major driver for the sales of antibacterial glass. Glass is also becoming a preferred surface in decorating for its hygienic properties. If you’d like some inspiration for using glass in your home or commercial space, please check out the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store.

Photo Credit: AJC1, via Flickr.com