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Schott Award Recognizes Glass Researchers

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Schott Award Recognizes Glass Researchers

Schott Award Recognizes Glass Researchers

The 14th annual Otto Schott Research Award, given to glass and glass ceramics researchers, has been awarded to three researchers for their groundbreaking research on glass strength. Dr. Sheldon Wiederhorn (National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD); Professor Satoshi Yoshida (University of Shiga Perfecture, Hikone, Japan); and Dr. Jean-Pierre Guin from the Université de Rennes, France are the 2016 award recipients. Their discoveries may eventually lead to the creation of unbreakable glass.

Although the researchers work in three different countries and for three different institutions, they collaborate to share their research discoveries. Wiederhorn’s research focuses on the tensile strength of glass, and microscopic cracks that naturally occur in glass. Satoshi’s research examines the elastic behavior of glass surfaces when they encounter mechanical stress. Guin researches the growth of cracks in glass at the nanoscale level, as well as fatigue thresholds, and properties like hardness, toughness and scratch resistance.

The award, which is given by the Ernst Abbe Fund, seeks to maximize the potential of glass and improve its strength. To improve the overall performance of glass, the Abbe Fund supports basic research and technological improvements related to glass and glass ceramicsIndividuals and small research teams are eligible for the award, and are selected from candidates worldwide who engage in qualifying glass application research in healthcare, telecommunications, optics, renewable energy and other similar fields.

Significant work has been done at the nanoscale level to take advantage of the properties of glass. For example, Glassprimer™ glass paint is specially engineered to create nanoscale bonds with glass surfaces. By modifying the glass surface, Glassprimer™ glass paint adheres permanently to the glass surface. In addition to offering a permanent coating, Glassprimer™ glass paint offers superior UV resistance. Glassprimer™ glass paint won’t chip, fade or peel, even in direct sunlight.

UV resistance is an important benefit. Beyond preserving the appearance of the coating, Glassprimer™ glass paint’s superior resistance allows you to control the amount of UV radiation that penetrates a glass surface. Controlling UV radiation is key to achieving energy conservation in spaces that make heavy use of exterior-facing glass.

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Photo Credit: Ryan McGilchrist , via Flickr.com

Electrical current has implications for glass

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Electrical current has implications for glass

Electrical current has implications for glass

Glass and electricity typically don’t mix. so much so that glass is often used as an insulator. New research into electricity and molten glass may change the way that glass is made. The surprising discovery, made in part by researchers at Lehigh University, shows that an electrical current applied to heated glass can cause the glass to melt at lower temperatures.

Glass can be precisely shaped at lower temperatures

By itself, this has implications for glass fabrication. By reducing the melting point of glass, less energy is required during the heating or reheating stage of glass production or glass recycling. Since glass is usually processed at extremely high temperatures, the notion of reducing energy is welcome.

Beyond reducing the melting temperature of glass, the researchers – working with another research team at the University of Marburg in Germany – discovered that heated glass can be precisely melted at specific points using direct electrical current. The discovery means that glass could be precisely shaped following molding and cooling.

The Marburg researchers had also been working with glass and electricity, and discovered that it was possible to leave an electrical charge on glass, which is normally electrically neutral. Charged glass potentially has some desirable optical and bioactive properties. The combined research team worked together to understand the exact mechanisms that describe their laboratory findings. The team’s findings will be published in the September 2016 issue of the Journal of Electrochemical Society.

With a more complete understanding of the mechanisms at work, the team can now focus on fine-tuning applications for their thermal and electric manipulations of glass in manufacturing.

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Photo Credit: Lehigh University