Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

thehourglasses t1_iv6hjy8 wrote

Curious what it is made of and how toxic it is. We need to be more cautious about these kinds of “breakthrough” materials because their manufacture at scale could cause worse problems like PFAS contamination, etc.

287

Onequestion0110 t1_iv6qs9k wrote

Also the cost to apply it, how durable it is, etc.

I could easily see a coating that works great but turns to tinting after a couple of years and is impossible to remove.

Or it takes specialized training and equipment to apply like repainting a car does, so even if the raw material is cheap it becomes a big expense and hassle to do it.

133

Twirrim t1_iv7ogva wrote

The church I went to growing up had beautiful Victorian stained glass windows, by a particularly important artist.

In the 70s the church was strongly advised to put some specific coating on the outside to protect and preserve them for future generations. It was transparent, and durable.

Within 10-15 years it was this beige translucent colour and only got worse with time. The church almost looked boarded up by the late 90s, while it still looked beautiful on the inside.

Of course a method didn't exist (at the time) to actually remove it, either, without damaging the frame.

54

Bman10119 t1_iv7f753 wrote

How does it affect homes in places that have changing seasonal temperatures? Sure making all the homes in Florida cooler isn't bad but if the savings are going to be lost by a house further north because it still made it colder in the winter driving up heating costs then is it worth it?

16

RedditTab t1_iv7jz39 wrote

Bold of you to assume we see the sun in the winter.

19

Bman10119 t1_iv7mlfd wrote

I've lived in plenty of places with snow and cold winters that saw the sun in the winter :p

10

ilep t1_iv80u2w wrote

Further north you go, longer the period when sun doesn't rise above the horizon. Arctic circle marks the latitude when sun doesn't rise at certain time of the year.

Just saying. So this kind of coating would not make difference as heating from direct sunlight would be small in any case.

But I would assume there would be different products for different regions like they are these days.

1

JasonDJ t1_iv7sx1p wrote

Yeah…I’m in the sweet spot this time of year where the sun blasting through my glass storm door provides more heat than I lose from drafts.

Gotta love southern-facings.

3

RandomLogicThough t1_iv7tkj9 wrote

I would think colder really just means more insulated which is better for heating or cooling

3

aldhibain t1_iv8ixnw wrote

The article states that they're trying to cool the building by radiating heat in addition to reducing the heat that is coming in.

1

RandomLogicThough t1_iv8j4px wrote

I feel that would also stop heat from getting out. I'll look at the article...sometime....

2

supercrossed t1_iv7qfwj wrote

Wonder if it could be sandwiched between two panes of glass to help with durability. That way the coating has no exposure to the elements.

11

snackelmypackel t1_iv7y4is wrote

Kinda like a windshield? Except i think those are plastic or something sandwiching the middle glass

3

Arrowcreek t1_iv81zy3 wrote

Uv blocking poly. Mostly for structural integrity. Uv and what not is just a bonus.

3

Contundo t1_iv84zqc wrote

Normal glass is 2 or 3 layers often filled argon gas between them. put This on the outside of the middle layer, its protected from the harsh environment and could be in a mostly inert atmosphere.

1

_Rand_ t1_iv8elty wrote

Hopefully it doesn’t break down just due to UV.

Would suck to have yellowed completely unrepairable windows.

1

Zech08 t1_iv8crrn wrote

They have double paned windows, guessing the air acts as an insulator, dont see why we couldn't add a material inbetween that.

1

FidelCashdrawer t1_iv8f7op wrote

Indeed window companies do this. They’re called “Low E” (Low emissivity) coatings and do a great job

3

sirkilgoretrout t1_iv77zvh wrote

Its in the second paragraph, first sentence. Common materials in layers. Silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, aluminum oxide, titanium dioxide, all on top of standard glass, with a topper of PDMS.

I’m pretty confused, as PDMS is a flexible plastic and kind of jelly-like. It doesn’t seem like something with a PDMS top layer would even be close to durable.

34

cope413 t1_iv7fmq7 wrote

Pdms has been used to coat solar panels for a while now. It increases the efficiency.

Wouldn't be ideal for windows on the first floor of a house, but on a skyscraper or multi-storey building, it would be durable enough.

23

sirkilgoretrout t1_iv89p9m wrote

Interesting… is that due to reduced absorption in the near-UV range vs acrylic, polycarb, etc?

2

cope413 t1_iv8aitb wrote

Yes, it has exceptional intrinsic thermal and UV stability (won't suffer degradation), and it has excellent transmittance.

It's also used as a boundary to prevent lead oxides from forming (called PDMS passivating). This is the main way that PDMS increases efficiency of solar cells.

6

SignorJC t1_iv8h50d wrote

Yeah but we could also have just required those skyscrapers not be built with so much glass in the first place. Horribly inefficient but we did it for the aesthetics.

1

derpymcdooda t1_iv7oq28 wrote

Part of the issue with glass coating is the carriers that get used during production. Dimethyl Tin and Hydrofluoric acid are both extremely toxic and very common carriers. At least for Vapor Deposition Coating.

Source: work in an online coated float glass facility.

A bigger question is, imo, how finicky is that stack going to be to actually apply

9

sirkilgoretrout t1_iv89gxn wrote

You mean like a post-market film install on current glass?

I’m definitely familiar with HF, but what the heck is dimethyl tin??

1

derpymcdooda t1_iv89whw wrote

The coating stack. In online applications it's deposited while the glass is still hot, before annealing.

Dimethyltin Dichloride. Pretty nasty stuff, really.

2

YobaiYamete t1_iv7rsn3 wrote

> Its in the second paragraph, first sentence.

You expect us to do more than read the headline??? Mods, ban this heretic

4

sirkilgoretrout t1_iv88oxd wrote

You obviously read the comments, and the Mod’s submission statement has it too.

But I do appreciate your 3rd grade level attention span and commitment to the reddit ways. You’re part of what makes this place special 😀

−3

YobaiYamete t1_iv8bspm wrote

. . . the fact that you missed such an extremely obvious joke, while managing to be insulting about it, is pretty impressive tbh

4

nanoH2O t1_iv83shx wrote

You can vary the cure ratio of pdms etc to get different flexibility. You can make a pdms film that is acrylic like.

2

sirkilgoretrout t1_iv89382 wrote

Mind blown. When I was doing microfluidic devices with PDMS, I always ended up with surfaces that would collect dust and lint like a little kid’s squishy toy. They’d be great on day 1, but we usually re-made samples regularly. Our lab shifted to deep SU-8 molding in part to avoid some of these surface issues.

2

BluudLust t1_iv77beg wrote

Simple solution to toxicity could be to have double layer glass and have this coating in the middle. If it really saves that much power, it will be well worth it.

9

Resonosity t1_iv7u5ja wrote

Exactly

Have to always remember the toxicology of these materials, for humans and other biology, as well as what decommission/demolition/disposal/recycling of these technologies would be

Green/circular/sustainable chemistry is just one facet of getting at this

2

talligan t1_iv82ix2 wrote

They didn't make it, it was a simulation study.

2

penguinuendo t1_iv7gtjy wrote

>silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, aluminum oxide or titanium dioxide on a glass base, topped with a film of polydimethylsiloxane.

1