What Is A Liquid Glass Coating?
Liquid glass is the term given to silicon based coatings, an ultra thin layering which is most commonly found in natural resources such as sand, quartz and in the cell walls of diatoms. Silica is primarily used in the production of glass for windows, drinking glasses and ceramics amongst many other things.
The experimental use of liquid glass, specifically nano-scale coatings began in the 1980’s. The development of commercial applications began in the early 2000’s as more advanced products and applications were created.
It was discovered that liquid glass gave protection from oil, moisture dirt and bacteria and gave significant abrasion resistance. The coating is approximately 100 nanometers thick which is 500 times thinner than a human hair and as a result is completely invisible to the naked eye whilst offering many benefits including:
- Low surface tension on areas coated with liquid glass.
- A resistant layer which water and oil can not penetrate
- Has 200% flexibility so it can be harnessed into uses which require some movement and on both hard and soft surfaces.
- Acidic and alkaline resistance
- Withstand extreme temperatures
When it is applied it is important that the polymerisation process takes place for the liquid glass to adhere to the surface. It bonds to the surface using Van der Waals effect whereby no adhesive or chemical agents are used and works with a quantum force drawing the molecules to the substrate layer it is coating.
As a result, surfaces become easy to clean and give antimicrobial protection. (This won the technology the NHS smart solution award.) Once coated, surfaces become stain resistant and can easily cleaned with water and without harsh chemicals
