Danish researchers have developed a new type of glass that repairs itself, which can make problems with scratches on mobile phones or stone-cracks on cars a thing of the past.
The new glass was developed at Aalborg University. The glass opens up the possibility that scratches in mobile screens and stone damage on car windshields may one day be history.
According to Kacper Januchta, one of the main contributors behind the new glass developed with water molecules, it can be compared to a bath sponge.
A sponge absorbs water and expands slightly. Similarly, the water molecules penetrate the glass and cause it to expand, he says.
In this way, no damage will be aggravated, such as with stone-cracks in car windows. At the same time, the water molecules help repair the damage in the glass.
But as with many other new researches, the glass type is not put into production because it becomes too expensive. However, the knowledge can be used to improve existing glass types, and the researchers have therefore made the knowledge freely available.
Although the discovery solves one of the major problems with glass, there are still some disadvantages with the new glass.
It can withstand scratches incredibly well, but it also consists of some elements that are incredibly expensive. In addition, the glass is relatively heavy and it gets dull over time, says Januchta.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
