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Tag Archive for: glass coatings

Glass may be used to fight bacteria

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Glass may be used to fight bacteria

Glass may be used to fight bacteria

The medical community is facing a virtual crisis regarding antibiotic-resistant drugs. The large-scale use of antibiotics over time has resulted in the emergence of drug-resistant strains of bacteria. Developing new strategies to combat these “super-bugs” is a high priority for scientists.

Researchers at the Missouri University of Science and Technology are working with a special type of bioactive glass to limit bacteria’s ability to spread among humans. The glass is a fibrous material that can be used to help dress chronic or slow-healing wounds.

The glass fiber is a promising treatment, since wounds that are covered by it don’t tend to develop infections. By preventing infections from taking hold in the first place, doctors can limit the need for antibiotics while a patient is most vulnerable. The glass fiber has a second beneficial effect; wounds treated with the glass fiber heal faster than open wounds that are treated with more conventional dressings.

The bioactive glass could have additional applications for medical treatments. In addition to wound dressings, bioactive glasses could be used as coatings for medical implants. Patients who receive medical implants – including replacement joints and mechanical bone repairs – could benefit from the technology, since coated implants would be less likely to introduce bacteria into the body when they are installed.

The research team also believes that surfaces in hospitals and nursing homes that are prone to bacterial exposure could be coated with the bioactive glass to discourage the spread of resistant bacterial strains. While many types of hospital-acquired infections are declining, doctors are seeing a much lower rate of decline among certain bacterial strains, including multi-drug resistant staph (MRSA) and C. difficile infections. These two strains are currently recognized as being the most difficult infections to treat.

Glass is an exceptionally versatile medium. It can be used for everything from disease prevention to decorating. GlassPrimer™ glass paint is a special coating that can help you decorate glass surfaces safely and beautifully. For more information about GlassPrimer™ glass paint, please visit the rest of our site.

Photo Credit: Umberto Salvagnin, via Flickr

New “powerless” glass can cool buildings

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New "powerless" glass can cool buildings

New “powerless” glass can cool buildings

A team of researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder has developed a novel material that can cool buildings without consuming any power. The material, which is a thin film composed of silver and glass in a polymer known as polymethylpentene, can be produced less expensively than comparable films made from other materials.

The film works because the solar radiation passes through the polymer, but reflects off of the silver layer. The silver layer does not absorb the solar radiation. Instead, the glass reflects the heat, which is created by infrared waves, away from the glass.

The film has been tested under midday heat – the point at which the infrared waves are most intense – and it has performed very well. The new material can be produced quickly and efficiently, using a roll to roll process. The finished film is about as thick as a piece of aluminum foil, like the kind used in a kitchen.

The team will continue to test the material to determine its overall durability and longevity. The team will also experiment with a “cooling farm” in 2017. According to the University of Colorado researchers, 10 to 20 square meters of their material would keep an average sized home continuously cool during the summer. Having said that, they also caution that the film isn’t something that can simply be applied to a home’s roof and left in place, because while it will cool the home effectively in summer, it will also cool a home in the winter – an undesirable condition, especially for homes in the northern part of the country.

Researchers at Stanford University developed a similar film in 2014, but that composition used alternating layers of silicon dioxide and hafnium dioxide. This film is more expensive to produce, and hafnium dioxide is in limited supply. The University of Colorado Boulder team uses commonly available materials. Both materials have a surface temperature that’s less than the surrounding air temperature, even in midday heat.

Glassprimer™ glass paint is a specialized glass coating that bonds permanently to glass surfaces. GlassPrimer also makes a glass surface molecular activator that is designed to work with UV-inkjet glass printing processes. Glassprimer™ glass paint can be used in both interior and exterior applications and can help reduce solar heat gain in some applications. For more information about Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: davebloggs007 , via Flickr.com

New glass coating can keep greenhouses cooler

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New glass coating can keep greenhouses cooler

New glass coating can keep greenhouses cooler

A research team from the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore has developed a specialized glass coating designed for use in greenhouses. The coating allows light to penetrate the structure, but diminishes the amount of infrared light that can enter. The result is greenhouses that are cooler and better for the plants inside them.

The coating can block about 90% of the heat-generating infrared light waves from the Sun. Reducing heat is important in greenhouses because too much heat can kill plants or stunt their growth. The coating was made by combining heat-absorbing nanoparticles and inorganic oxides.

The coating was developed at the request of university officials, who were looking for ways to cool the atrium of a campus building. The resulting coating, which was applied to the roof of the building, has reduced the interior temperature by more than 15°F.

The next step is to test the coating in the field, which means applying it to a local greenhouse. Overly warm conditions inside the greenhouse can cause plants to wilt. The research team intends to measure the effect of the coating on plant growth.

In addition to helping reduce temperatures in greenhouses, the researchers see applications for it in other food-producing industries, such as fish farms. The coating could reduce the temperature in fish hatcheries. Reducing the temperature there could allow more food to be made available for larval fish.

One of the benefits of this coating is that it is less expensive to produce and apply than current heat-reflective coatings on the market. The coating can also be applied to acrylic to achieve similar results.

Glassprimer™ glass paint is a specialized glass coating that bonds permanently to glass surfaces. GlassPrimer also makes a glass surface molecular activator that is designed to work with UV-inkjet glass printing processes. Glassprimer™ glass paint can be used in both interior and exterior applications and can help reduce solar heat gain in some applications. For more information about Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Oregon Department of Agriculture, via Flickr.com

Penn State Research May Unlock Glass Thin Films

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Penn State Research May Unlock Glass Thin Films

Penn State Research May Unlock Glass Thin Films

Thin films have become very important in the glass industry, largely because certain coatings can give glass properties it doesn’t ordinarily have. Thin films can be applied to glass in a number of ways, but deposition techniques predominate. A single piece of glass can have multiple coatings, all of which add something to the finished product.

The trouble with deposition as a way to add thin films to glass is that the molecules pack randomly on the glass surface. Penn State researchers are looking at ways to make thin films thinner and stronger. They theorize that by packing the thin film molecules “better” they can get better performance from the films and the glass they’re attached to. To test this out, three scientists at the university have received a $1.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation.

Glass coatings research may lead to new materials

The research results may not just apply to current thin-film coatings. It may also help engineers and chemists design new coatings that can give glass novel properties. Conductivity and ultraviolet light blocking are high on the thin films wish list because coatings like that could be used to improve the efficiency of solar energy collectors and reduce solar heat gain in large buildings.

Scientists are looking for ways to combat a phenomenon they’ve observed in thin-film deposition. Using current deposition technology, a film that’s too thin changes the transparency of the glass. With the grant, the researchers hope to find a way to reduce the thickness of the coating while still maintaining the properties that make glass attractive.

The research team will be studying production factors like the ideal temperature and other conditions to determine their effect on the finished product. In addition, they’ll be testing new molecules to see if they can improve existing coatings or develop new coatings with unique properties. Ideally, the team hopes to develop a model that will enable scientists to predict coating characteristics accurately without having to manufacture it.

Glassprimer™ glass paint is a specialized glass coating that bonds permanently to glass surfaces. GlassPrimer also makes a glass surface molecular activator that is designed to work with UV-inkjet glass printing processes. For more information about Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store

Photo Credit: ZEISS Microscopy, via Flickr.com

PPG Sells Flat Glass Division

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PPG Sells Flat Glass Division

PPG Sells Flat Glass Division

Pittsburgh Plate Glass (PPG) – a historical giant in the glass manufacturing industry – announced last month that it was selling its flat glass division to Vitro, another glass manufacturer in Mexico. The glass division was valued at $750 million at the time of the agreement.

Flat glass didn’t factor into company’s long-term plans

PPG has been a leader in flat glass manufacturing for more than 130 years, but according to company officials, glass was not a strategic part of PPG’s future plans. Selling the glass division was a logical step.

According to officials, the companies had been in discussions regarding the sale of PPG’s glass division for a couple of years, but Vitro lacked the capital to make the purchase. Once Vitro sold its container division, it had enough capital to close the deal.

This is not the first time PPG has sold a major division. In 2008, the company spun off Pittsburgh Glass Works, its automotive business, to an auto parts maker. It also recently announced its planned divesture of its European fiberglass business.

For this sale, PPG wanted to find a buyer that was interested in making glass. According to Vitro, the company intends to keep PPG’s glass facilities and assets intact, and will employ all of PPG’s glass division 1,200 workers in the US and Canada. The sale includes PPG’s facilities in Fresno, CA; Salem, OR; Carlisle, PA; and Wichita Falls, TX, as well as the company’s Research and Development facility in Harmar, PA, and its assets in Canada.

PPG has moved heavily into glass coatings. Approximately 90% of its revenues came from paint and specialty coatings. Following this sale, more than 98% of the company’s revenues will be derived from paint and coatings.

Glassprimer™ glass paint is a specialty paint designed to provide exceptional adhesion to glass and other non-porous surfaces. Glassprimer™ is a leader in glass coating, and the product offers superior UV-resistance for both interior and exterior applications. If you’d like more information about Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Samuel Silva, via Flickr.com

Architectural glass and Glassprimer™ glass paint

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Architectural glass and Glassprimer™ glass paint

Architectural glass and Glassprimer™ glass paint

Glass has been used in decorating and interior design throughout recorded history, but it fell out of the residential landscape during the post-World War II housing boom, when materials were hard to come by. Architectural glass has remained a staple in commercial buildings, in both interior and exterior applications.

Using Glassprimer™ glass paint with architectural glass

The use of architectural glass in buildings poses a challenge. By itself, glass isn’t energy-efficient. In the summer, glass tends to trap heat in buildings. That requires significant amounts of energy to make the building comfortable. In the winter, heat readily escapes. Just as in the summer, the low insulating ability of glass means increased energy use to make the building comfortable.

Nonetheless, glass has made a comeback in interior design, and in a variety of ways. Glass is an extremely versatile material, and can be shaped in a variety of ways, and incorporate a limitless number of textures. Using shapes and textures, glass makes an ideal material for doors, walls, partitions, furniture and countertops.

In some cases, it may be desirable to treat the glass to improve its performance, create additional privacy or even improve the energy efficiency of a space. Because of its nature, glass doesn’t typically take paint or other coatings very well. This limits your ability to modify the glass.

Enter Glassprimer™ glass paint. Glassprimer™ glass paint is specially formulated to bond to the surface of glass. This makes Glassprimer™ glass paint an ideal coating for surfaces like textured glass, which won’t retain applied films. With Glassprimer™ glass paint, you can apply a permanent surface coating to the glass that will remain beautiful for years.

Glassprimer™ glass paint reflects UV light, which reduces the amount of trapped heat in buildings in the summer, and allows the glass to better reduce heat losses in the winter. Glassprimer™ can help improve the overall energy efficiency of building windows. It also offers an option for decorating or improving architectural glass used in building interiors.

Glassprimer™ glass paint comes in virtually any color and can be tinted to match the color palette of any major paint manufacturer. It is also more cost-effective than acid-etched glass.

Photo Credit: Romina Chamorro , via FreeImages.com