Resilient, ultraslippery glass could lead to self-cleaning, scratch-resistant
windows, lenses, and solar panels
A new transparent, bioinspired coating makes ordinary glass
tough, self-cleaning, and incredibly slippery, a team from the Wyss Institute
for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and Harvard School
of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) reported online in the July 31
edition of Nature Communications.
The new coating could be used to create durable,
scratch-resistant lenses for eyeglasses, self-cleaning windows, improved solar
panels, and new medical diagnostic devices, said principal investigator Joanna
Aizenberg, Ph.D., who is a Core Faculty Member at the Wyss Institute, Amy Smith
Berylson Professor of Materials Science at SEAS, and a Professor of Chemistry
and Chemical Biology.