I don’t know if I might be behind the times a little on this one but I just heard about it and thought it was a really cool use of science in everyday life. Liquid glass is pretty much what it sounds like, small particles of glass (silicon dioxide) suspended in a liquid. It’s a nano-coating first developed in the 80’s, and commercially available since the early 2000’s, which can be used to strengthen phone screens.
It can do this because on a microscopic level your phone screen isn’t all that flat, having lots of little bumps and rigids. The liquid glass, when spread on, can fill in these little gaps making the screen smoother, and therefore less likely to break. In fact, up to six times less likely to break. Being only 100mm thick it’s invisible to the human eye as well, meaning your phone can be protected while still in its ‘naked’ form.
It doesn’t need any glue to be able to stick as it forms weak bonds, called Van der Waals forces, with the glass already on your screen. Liquid glass is also super-phobic, meaning it repels both water and oil-based liquids, is very flexible, is acid and alkaline-resistant, and temperature-resistant. Essentially, a very cool material.
Had you all heard of it before? Do you know what else it’s used on?
