Once the purview of science fiction or The Jetsons, our mad british boffins have done it again.
Self Cleaning Windows.
Over at University College London (UCL), a team of scientists have developed a high tech glass that is intended for self cleaning and energy saving windows.
A team led by Dr Ioannis Papakonstantinou has coupled “Conical nanostructures engraved onto the glass” with a photochromic 5-10 nanometre film of vanadium dioxide.
What this basically means, the nanostructures trap air which stops water from effectively hitting the surface of the glass, as the surface tension of the droplets cannot spread out on the glass, the droplets form spheres which just roll right off the glass surface, picking up dust and dirt particles as they go. That is perfect or our weather, we will have the cleanest windows in Europe.
The other part of the coating, the Vanadium dioxide, acts like a one way mirror, it allows infrared light (effectively heat) into the room up to a maximum of 30ºC, this means the sunlight will warm the room but not become over hot and also the reflectivity of the coating means the heat can’t escape through the glass keeping the room warm.
Now don’t expect to go and buy these right away, the Scientists reckon they are 3 to 5 years away from commercial production but they are also working on producing the coating as a ready made film that you can apply to existing windows as well.
So by the end of the decade, we could have smart windows in our houses and that could mean big savings in heating bills too.
Until that day arrives however, you are still going to have to clean your windows the old fashioned way. Here are a couple of our best sellers to make the job go a lot smoother. Click the names to purchase. HG Window Cleaner and Tableau Pink Window Cream
*article courtesy of The Register. link HERE*