MIIT Starts Pilot Program to Resolve Excess Capacity in Flat Glass

The national industry and information work conference was held in Beijing on December 24, 2015 by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.  In review of year 2015, facing the increased difficulties and challenges due to the continuous downward pressure on industries, the industrial operations have made solid progress in the effort to secure stability in the economic slowdown, to advance while maintaining the stability, and to transform and upgrade the existing structures. It was reported at the meeting that the Country has made positive progress in eliminating backward and excess capacities by reducing production of approximately 38 million tons of cement and more than 11 million weight cases of flat glass in 2015.


The meeting affirmed that the trend will continue in 2016 by taking multiple measures and implementing pilot programs to resolve more overcapacities in the industrial sectors such as flat glass, iron and steel, cement, etc. The main targets in 2016 are around 6% of growth in above-scale industrial added value, 4% reduction in energy consumption, and 4.5% reduction of water consumption per industrial added value unit.  The Ministry called for efforts on promotion of supply-side structural reforms and further implementation of “China-made 2025” strategy while pushing forward the in depth integration of informationization and industrialization, civil-military integration, as well as information and communication industry restructuring and development.

MIIT Starts Pilot Program to Resolve Excess Capacity in Flat Glass

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AGC Releases New Auto Glass Providing 99% UV Reduction

AGC recently released a new product in its UV Verre PremiumTM automotive glass series - UV Verre Premium PrivashieldTM, for rear doors and rear windows that cuts 99% of ultraviolet (UV) rays.  This product series is the world’s first automotive glass series that can provide effective sun protection to this level.

AGC launched sales of its UV Verre Premium™ series with an approximately 99% UV reduction performance in 2010, followed by UV Verre Premium Cool onTM in 2012, a product equipped also with additional function against infrared (IR) rays, reducing the burning sensation of the skin caused by IR rays. With rising consciousness towards health and beauty, these products are now used in about 50 car models of major automobile manufacturers in the Japanese market.

By using UV Verre Premium PrivashieldTM for the sides with windshield glass LAMISAFE™, consumers can enjoy all-around protections against both UV and IR.

AGC Releases New Auto Glass Providing 99% UV Reduction

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Pleotint Announced the First Bird-Smart Glass

Pleotint has announced recently that self-tinting glass developed by the company has become the world’s first dynamic glass to receive a bird-friendly label from the American Bird Conservancy. According to the American Bird Conservancy (ABC), research has proven that birds are unaware of glass.  Tests indicate that this type of glass can help birds better detect the presence of windows.

The vice president of the company said that bird mortality caused by window collision has now gained more attention than ever. Cities such as San Francisco and Toronto have enacted bird-friendly building codes to reduce the hazards the built environment can have on the lifespan of birds. The self-tinting glass can not only free the architects from limitations imposed by certain building codes, but it also can improve daylighting in a building by replacing opaque glass that obstructing views of the outside world with visible glass patterns.

According to ABC, about one third of bird species are in significant decline and are on the verge of becoming endangered. Researches show astonishing results, indicating that windows are the third leading cause of population decline, up to a billion birds are killed each year in the United States because of this, trailing only loss of habitat and competition with invasive species.

Pleotint Announced the First Bird-Smart Glass

U.S. Develops a New 3D Printer for Glass

The materials that can be used as 3D printing are quickly growing in diversity, including PLA, ABS, and nylon. However, one ubiquitous material, glass has been absent. There are two main reasons: First, it’s a complex process to turn molten glass into specific shapes; Secondly, molten glass is hard to control once it gets extruded through the nozzle. These challenges have made it relatively a very difficult material to work with for 3D printing.     

But recently, researchers at MIT have cracked the challenge in this area. The team has developed a 3D printer that can print large size glass with good optical transparency. Now, scientists at Virginia Tech and the Rhode Island School of Design have also made progress: working together with Glass Robotics Lab (GRL), they have created robot-based 3D glass printing solution. 

Six-axis 3D glass printing process developed by GRL

The new solution is known as “six-axis glass printing process”, a joint project by RISD’s glass artist Stefanie Pender and Virginia Tech assistant professor Nathan King since 2013. For all these years, they have focused their effort to integrate modern robotic technology into handmade glass crafting. The robotic 3D printer is their answer.

Although the six-axis glass printing system is still sort of rough looking, it produces some interesting results. In this system, the molten glass is housed in a crucible, flowing out under gravity. The algorithm controlled robotic arm will move a tile around under the extruder that layers molten glass on to the tile into preprogrammed shape. To the contrary, most other systems move the nozzle above, extruding molten glass on to a fixed tile underneath.

The two developers of the GRL six-axis glass printing system stated that the emphasis of their invention was more of the integration of art, design, and glass as the material rather than commercialization. “This research is evidence that the traditional technical arts will not be replaced by digital fabrication, instead, the technical arts will help to drive and support the direction of future manufacturing industry,” said Pender.

U.S. Develops a New 3D Printer for Glass

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Scientists Develops New Way to Change Visible Light Transmittance in Glass

Variable transmittance window has always been part of smart home scheme. Imaging at a press of a button, the windows will go completely “dark” or create climate adaptive transmittance based on outdoor brightness and temperature to save costs for HVAC. However, most variable transmittance windows require power, working in a way similar to B/W LCD screen. In addition to the cost of the windows, the need for continuous power supply is also troublesome in a way.

Recently, in a research conducted by MIT on a rubbery polymer known as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), scientists discovered how to predict one of its special properties – in its normal formation, PDMS contains some opaque darkened regions. When the polymer gets stretched or deformed mechanically, these regions will become more transparent. After experiments with dye particles and different degrees of deformation, scientists at MIT developed an equation to predict the light transmittance through PDMS. By using this equation, glass manufacturers will be able to determine how much of polymer they need to apply between glass layers or on the surface of the windows to achieve the desired results. While the material changes its transparency by deformation, the product does not rely on electricity to be “smart” and makes installation much easier.

Scientists Develops New Way to Change Visible Light Transmittance in Glass

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AGC Released Two New LED-embedded Glass Products

AGC Group just announced recently that its LED glass series, “Glassiled” will soon release two new products --- Glassiled Motion and Glassiled Smart.

Glassiled Motion incorporates individually controlled, monochrome or RGB LEDs within a double glazing unit. When night falls, the glass wall can immediately transform into a giant display screen, a visual medium capable of faithfully displaying any animated design. In addition, Glassiled Motion has excellent energy-efficient performance with visibility at a distance of 3km. Since the wiring is invisible, Glassiled Motin retains 99% of its transpanrency. The electronic components are protected from moisture and atmospheric deterioration by the double glazing, which also provides outstanding thermal insulation.

Glassiled Smart delivers the similar functionalities as Glassiled Motion, but has been specially designed for renovation projects. It can add a luminous touch to an existing building whose general architecture and original window frames must be kept.

AGC Released Two New LED-embedded Glass Products

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Ukrainian Scientists Developed New Type of High Strength Glass

Scientists of G.S. Pisarenko Institute for Problems of Strength under the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine have for long been working on optimization of glass manufacturing process. During the process, glass substrates have to meet certain requirements in transparency, radio wave transmission, surface quality, intended sizes and decorative standards. To enhance the glass strength, the glass will normally undergo series of processes in mechanical processing, cutting, grinding, polishing, ion-exchange hardening under different level of electric voltages as well as deep etching.

The researchers of the institute have developed a new type of high strength cold-bent glass using cold bent technology. The advantages of the glass include its length up to 4 meters, high quality, diversified geometric parameters, low economic cost, and wide range of applications in architectural engineering projects, perfect for viewing balcony, screen porch, and winter garden rooftop.

At present, the scientists of the institute are developing enhanced safety glass innovation project (under dynamic load and higher resistance) for applications in bank security, special objects, transportation, armored vehicles, and air-raid shelter. 

Ukrainian Scientists Developed New Type of High Strength Glass

https://www.landglass.net/News/Industry-News/Ukrainian-Scientists-Developed.html

3D printing method for transparent glass developed by MIT

The world of 3D-printing is expanding day-by-day. 

Thanks to researchers from MIT, 3D-printing is taking a jump into the world of glass. Believe it or not, molten glass is the latest part of 3D-printing that MIT believes will change the world.

Researchers published their findings in the 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing journal. Not only does the system they created offer control over the hot glass material, but it creates a state-of-the-art final product.

The combination of additive manufacturing with molten glass "presents a potential path toward production of highly complex geometry and custom-designed objects while retaining the optical transparency and chemical stability available through traditional manufacturing processes," the research states.The MIT researchers call the new printer G3DP2.

The G3DP2 platform, has been used to turn molten glass into 3-meter tall columns exhibited in Milan.

3D printing method for transparent glass developed by MIT

https://www.landglass.net/News/Industry-News/3D-printing-method-for-transpa.html

Scientist Invented Glass Made of Wood

Recently, a team led by Lars Berglund, a professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology created a optically transparent material that may be suitable for glass production, even for solar cells. 

Scientists started by removing lignin from wood via a chemical process. The material left looks white, but not yet transparent. The scientists then mixed the white “wood” with prepolymerized methyl methacrylate (PMMA) and successfully altered the refractive index of the wood, turning it transparency with up to 85% transmittance while retaining wood texture. The finished product can be made more translucent by fine-tuning the wood-to-PMMA ratio.

Although it isn’t the first time the wood gets turned into a transparent material, it has only been used in small scale to create things such as the substrate for wood-based computer chips. However, the new light weight material is well-suited for large scale applications. “No one has previously considered the possibility of creating larger transparent wood for use as solar cells and in buildings,” said Berglund. It’s attractive as the material comes from renewable sources. It also offers excellent mechanical properties, including strength, toughness, low density and low thermal conductivity.

Scientist Invented Glass Made of Wood

https://www.landglass.net/News/Industry-News/Scientist-Invented-Glass-Made.html

Harvard University Invented Color-tunable Glass

Researchers at Harvard University recently invented a new process that can make glass change colors by tuning voltage. It isn’t the first time researchers try to develop color-tunable glass.  However, they all adopted the costly electrochemical reaction method in order to achieve the transition. The new technology developed by Harvard team has found a way to adjust the transparency of the window glass by changing the geometrical arrangement of the material.

Researchers at Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have described it in a paper published in the latest journal Optics Letters. Their tunable glass is made from a sheet of glass sandwiched between two layers of transparent, soft elastomer. The elastomer has been sprayed with a coating of silver nanowires. The nanowires are tiny in size and don't scatter light. But things change when you apply an external electric voltage. 

Upon the application of voltage, the two nanowire layers get the energy to move nanowires closer to each other and causes the elastomer to deform. While the silver nanowires are scattered randomly, the elastomer also deform unevenly. This uneven surface scatters light, making the glass surface cloudy.

The important thing is that the entire transition takes less than a second, said the researchers. They also found that the roughness of the elastomer surface is related to the voltage applied. The higher the voltage applied, the rougher the surface gets and eventually turns the glass opaque.

Harvard University Invented Color-tunable Glass

https://www.landglass.net/News/Industry-News/Harvard-University-Invented-Co.html

World’s First Car Glass to Block Long-wave Ultraviolet Rays

Nippon Sheet Glass Co., Ltd. (NSG) has developed a new range of UV-cut automotive glass products calledUV Protect 400^TM.

UV Protect 400^TM blocks 99% (*1) of UV rays (300nm-400nm), which includes the longer wavelength UVA (315nm-400nm) that can cause damage to deeper layers of human skin.

The new technology can be used in all car windows and is the world's first automotive glass that blocks the UV radiation of up to 400nm wavelength by 99%.

Current automotive glass products that can block 99% (*2) of sub-380nm UV ray transmittance are already available and becoming one of the standard features for light vehicles sold in Japan. The NSG Group, however, has focused on effectively blocking the longest-wavelength range of UV (380nm-400nm), which can penetrate into deeper layers of the skin.

World’s First Car Glass to Block Long-wave Ultraviolet Rays

https://www.landglass.net/News/Industry-News/Worlds-First-Car-Glass-to-Blo.html

Scientists Developed Light-emitting Glass to Enhance Solar Panel Efficiency

Physicists recently have developed optical luminescent glass that emits visible light under ultraviolet radiation. The study will be conducive to promoting solar energy and creates some very favorable conditions for the expansion of LED production scale.

It was reported that the physicists from Heat & Mass Transfer Institute have developed a new luminescent glass that emits visible light under ultraviolet radiation. Heaters made of luminescent glass are not covered with ordinary glass. This optical material will emit light under ultraviolet radiation to protect solar cells from the damages caused by ultraviolet light. In addition, the conversion of ultraviolet radiation will also prevent it from exposure to more sunlight.

Scientists say that at present, the efficiency of ultraviolet conversion in the luminescent glass is 30 percent, the goal of the future research projects is to increase the efficiency of ultraviolet conversion in the luminescent glass exponentially.

Scientists Developed Light-emitting Glass to Enhance Solar Panel Efficiency

https://www.landglass.net/News/Industry-News/Scientists-Developed-Light-emi.html

Russian Scientists Developed a New Technology of Laser Cutting Glass and Ceramics

Scientists from Tomsk State University in Russia have developed a new technology of laser cutting glass and ceramics. This technology is mainly used for the production of smart phones and tablet PCs.

Information Service at the University said that the new laser cutting machine uses controlled thermal cutting method to cut brittle materials and ceramics. This technology greatly simplifies and speeds up parts manufacturing process while significantly reducing the production costs. The laser cutting machine can cut various types of glass and ceramic materials.

The technology greatly reduces scraps and defective products by achieving micron cutting precision. Furthermore, the laser cutting surface is very smooth, requiring no additional polishing work.

Russian Scientists Developed a New Technology of Laser Cutting Glass and Ceramics

https://www.landglass.net/News/Industry-News/Russian-Scientists-Developed-a.html

US Develops New Anti-bacterial Glass That Kills 99.99% Bacteria in Germy Water

The Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University have created a device that can make use of more sun’s energy. In experiments, the device killed 99.999 percent of bacteria in just 20 minutes. The rectangle device has about half the size of a postage stamp device and looks like nothing but a little piece of black glass. It consists of thin “nanoflake” walls of molybdenum disulfide on a glass surface and each flake is topped with a thin layer of copper.

Under sunlight, the molybdenum disulfide and copper act as a catalyst, using that sunlight to produce hydrogen peroxide and other disinfectant in the water. When their work was done the killer chemicals quickly dissipated, leaving pure water behind.

US Develops New Anti-bacterial Glass That Kills 99.99% Bacteria in Germy Water

https://www.landglass.net/News/Industry-News/US-Develops-New-Anti-bacterial.html

Smart window changes color with weather

Weather could power the next generation of smart windows. Researchers have created glass that tints by harvesting energy from wind and precipitation. The approach offers an alternative to other smart windows powered by batteries, solar panels, and even standard power outlets.

The new glass uses nanosized generators powered by triboelectrics—the static electricity produced by friction when two materials touch. When activated, the generators, which rest in two layers atop a single pane of glass, create an electric current that tints the clear window a dark shade of blue.

The outermost layer of generators harvests static energy from rain. When a raindrop falls from a cloud, the contact between the water and the air creates a positive charge within the droplet. When the droplet strikes the glass, which is coated with nanoscopic pyramids made from a negatively charged silicone material called polydimethylsiloxane, it creates an electric current.

The second layer of nanogenerators lies just beneath the first and harvests energy from the wind. This layer consists of two sheets of charged, see-through plastic that are separated by nanoscopic spring coils. As wind pushes against the window, the springs compress and create an electric current as the charged plates of plastic approach each other.

In experiments, the glass produced up to 130 milliwatts per square meter, enough to power a pacemaker or a smart phone while it’s asleep, This output might suit many applications, such as being a power source for home or office electronics.

Smart window changes color with weather

https://www.landglass.net/News/Industry-News/Smart-window-changes-color-wit.html

New Metallic Glass Is Both Hard And Elastic - How Is This Possible?

Glass is strong—until it shatters. If it could stretch more like a rubber band, glass could be used in shatter-proof windows and flexible electronic displays or fashioned into mechanical sensors that could operate at the high temperatures encountered in such fields as aeronautics. Materials scientists led by Seiji Inaba of the Tokyo Institute of Technology have created the first such elastic glass.

Glass is typically made up of phosphorus- or silicon-based molecules tightly bound to one another in orderly but noncrystalline three-dimensional structures. Inaba and his colleagues designed their glass so its molecular structure would instead resemble chains of rubbery materials; its relatively long chains of phosphorus oxide are weakly connected to one another. After the scientists stretched this glass at high temperatures, its fibers shrank by about 35 percent—demonstrating elasticity, a behavior not seen in glasses before. The stretchy glass was described online last December in Nature Materials. (Scientific Americanis part of Nature Publishing Group.)

Inaba, who now works at Asahi Glass in Yokohama, says he still has work to do. So far the glass contracts well at 220 to 250 degrees Celsius, but ultimately designers want such performance closer to room temperature. Michael Demkowicz, a materials scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, notes that engineers could use Inaba's recipe to modify a glass that is, say, already known as a good conductor and make it elastic, too. Maybe someday soon a dropped phone or wineglass will be a far less shattering experience.

New Metallic Glass Is Both Hard And Elastic - How Is This Possible?

https://www.landglass.net/News/Industry-News/New-Metallic-Glass-Is-Both-Har.html

Israeli Material Science Company Is Developing Transparent Glass Display Technology

Israeli material science startup Gauzy has just developed a new technology that can turn the transparent glass into a computer monitor screen. This innovation is based on its core technology called Liquid Crystal Controllers (LLC), which allow the opacity of the glass to be changed with minimum amount of energy. Gauzy’s technology can be applied to automobiles, elevators, vessels, or various residential windows and change the transparent glass into your computer monitor at a touch of a finger.

Mr. Peso, CEO and Co-Founder of Gauzy, together with his partner are years into development of liquid crystal sheets or films and other similar materials to what goes into LCD television screen displays. They found that the physical properties of the chemical coating on liquid crystal will be altered in response to certain magnetic fields to adjust the transmission of light. Gauzy has sold the LCD film to some glass manufacturers and taught them how to install its technology.

Gauzy expects that its technology will help to make our living environment more intelligent, interactive and diverse.

Israeli Material Science Company Is Developing Transparent Glass Display Technology

https://www.landglass.net/News/Industry-News/Israeli-Material-Science-Compa.html

SolarWindow launches 0.1mm-thin flexible glass that generates electricity

SolarWindow Technologies, Inc., the leading developer of transparent electricity-generating coatings for glass windows on tall towers and skyscrapers, and flexible veneers, today announced that it is expanding product development to include applying its electricity-generating coatings onto flexible glass – as thin as a business card (only 0.1-millimeter-thick) – that is flexible enough to be bent without breaking or cracking.
The company estimates that the world’s first transparent, electricity-generating flexible glass conservatively represents a $25 billion market. Integrating transparent SolarWindow coatings with flexible glass creates new product opportunities for curved and non-flat surfaces in automotive, aircraft, and military applications.
“Flexible glass could play a big role in window, canopy, smart building, and other building and transportation products. We believe that flexible glass can serve an even more valuable purpose by generating electricity using SolarWindow coatings,” said John A. Conklin, President and CEO of SolarWindow Technologies, Inc.
When applied to a 50-story building, SolarWindow coatings achieve a one-year financial payback and generate 50-times greater energy than conventional rooftop solar, according to independently-validated engineering calculations.


SolarWindow launches 0.1mm-thin flexible glass that generates electricity

https://www.landglass.net/News/Industry-News/SolarWindow-launches-01mm-thin.html

Shaanxi Releases “The Thirteenth Five-Year Plan” on Building Energy Saving and Green Buildings

Shaanxi Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development insists that “The Thirteenth Five-Year Plan” should stick to the principles of “Improving efficiency through energy conservation; Enhancing development by adapting to regional context; Promoting green concept based on people-centred policies”, further develop the building energy saving and green building supervisory system to significantly change the development approach, enhance the level of the development, and basically establish the green development in urban and rural areas. The goal is to achieve three major milestones by year 2020: At urban and rural new building design and construction stages, the implementation rate on mandatory requirements for building energy efficiency enhancement reaches 100% and 98% respectively. All cities divided into districts, Xixian new district, Yangling pilot district have started the implementation of 75% building energy standards; In terms of green eco-development, the green buildings in overall urban and rural new constructions shall be 50%, the usage of green building materials shall reach 40%, and 200,000 M² of passive and low-energy building construction; Establish a comprehensive energy consumption based energy management system through an effective usage quota and pricing plan; Reduce the energy consumption per unit area in municipal public buildings by at least 15%. 

To ensure the realization of the Five-Year plan as scheduled, Shaanxi Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development has defined seven major tasks: 

First is to improve the construction quality and efficiency of the energy efficient building constructions. Second is to enhance the scale and level of the green building development. Third is to promote advances in building energy conservation and green building technology progress and innovation. Fourth is to develop applied green building materials. Fifth is to enhance comprehensive energy management for public buildings. Sixth is to strengthen the building standards system. And lastly is to encourage the formation of supporting industries. 

Shaanxi Releases “The Thirteenth Five-Year Plan” on Building Energy Saving and Green Buildings

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U.S.-Brazil Collaboration in Research for Portable Window Energy Meter

Recently, U.S. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Brazil’s Federal University of Santa Catarina released the result of their joint research and announced that the researchers have developed a portable window energy measuring device which can assess the energy performance of windows without removing them from the building site. The new energy meter is the approximate size of a shoe box and can be easily attached to the surface of the window glazing. The instrument automatically calculates and assesses the overall energy efficiency performance of a window by measuring the thermal and optical properties of windows in the field. It’s easy to carry and install, producing highly accurate readings. The Energy Department estimates that the amount of energy lost annually through windows in the United States corresponds to approximately $40 billion. When incorporated with international energy standards, the new instrument will facilitate building energy efficiency rating, energy auditing along with other standardized assessment procedures.    


U.S.-Brazil Collaboration in Research for Portable Window Energy Meter

NSG Group Introduces Pilkington Pyrostop Series Fire-resistant Glass

As one of the brands of NSG Group, Pilkington introduced its latest Pilkingtong Pyrostop series fire-resistant glass. The fire protection levels of the product meet EI standards in terms of integrity and insulation. Testing conducted by a relevant third party certification body indicates that the useful life of the product exceeds 30 years after installation. Pilkington Pyrostop line comes in a single pane structure filled with fire resistant ceramic fibers. It uses fire resistant sealant to realize a continuous binding without frame structures in the glass. The nominal thickness is only 5mm. It can be used as indoor frameless vertical glass partitions. 

Pilkington Pyrostop line triple is an insulated unit consisting of one pane of Pilkington Pyrostop fire rated glass sheet and two strengthened glass sheets. The product has a nominal thickness exceeding 39mm and can be installed on buildings’ open exterior wall.

In addition, this series has excellent 74%-87% visible light transmittance rate, allowing people to avoid flame with intuitive vision while having the fire isolated.

NSG Group Introduces Pilkington Pyrostop Series Fire-resistant Glass

From:https://www.landglass.net/News/Industry-News/NSG-Group-Introduces-Pilkingto.html

“The Thirteenth Five-year Plan for Building Energy Conservation and Green Building Development” Released

Recently, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development released “The Thirteenth Five-year Plan for Building Energy Conservation and Green Building Development”, aimed at establishing an energy saving, low carbon, green ecological, intensive, and highly efficient building energy use system, promoting the supply side structural reforms in the fields of residential housing and urban-rural development. 

The objectives are to improve the energy efficiency for newly built constructions in cities and towns by 20% compared with 2015 while building energy conservation standards in some regions and for key architectural components such as windows and doors shall meet or come very close to the current international advanced level by 2020. The green building area shall account for more than 50% of total newly built constructions in cities and towns with the use of green building materials exceeding 40%. Through energy efficiency renovation of more than 500 million m² for existing residential buildings and 100 million m² for public buildings, the energy efficient housing among existing residential buildings in cities and towns shall account for more than 60 % nationwide.  

The Thirteenth Five-Year Plan makes it clear that majority of future buildings shall be energy efficient in nature and encourages the use of new green building materials. At present, LandGlass has successfully developed fully tempered vacuum glass with U-value as low as 0.4 W/(m²·K). The outstanding performance of this product in thermal insulation and noise reduction while retaining the safety properties of fully tempered glass makes it an ideal choice for green, energy-saving, and passive buildings.

“The Thirteenth Five-year Plan for Building Energy Conservation and Green Building Development” Released

From:https://www.landglass.net/News/Industry-News/The-Thirteenth-Five-year-Plan.html

Transparent as Glass - JDI Announced the Development of All New Transparent Display Technology

Recently, Japan Display Inc. (JDI) demonstrated its high-transmittance LCD display at “JDI Tech Expo” held in Japan. It is reported that the prototype’s size and resolution are 4 inches and 300 x 300 respectively. The technology is expected to have wide applications in Augmented Reality (AR), automobile, and smart window display fields in the future.

The newly developed transparent display achieves a high transmittance level of 80%, 1.5 times higher than the previous technology and products. The new technology allows viewers to see the background image and the displayed foreground image clearly and contemporaneously, just like watching TV on a piece of glass. The transmittance of a previous model LCD display with a polarizing plate is merely “10-30% and OLED is 45%.

Transparent as Glass - JDI Announced the Development of All New Transparent Display Technology

From:https://www.landglass.net/News/Industry-News/Transparent-as-Glass---JDI-Ann.html

Bringing Night Vision to Normal Glass

Night vision goggles have always been a sophisticated device to many people. But thanks to the “magic recipe” developed by the researchers at the Australian National University (ANU), adding this new material will grant night vision powers to an ordinary pair of glass. 

The principle of night vision goggles is to convert the incident photons into electrons that light up a phosphor screen inside the device to create a visual image of the surrounding area. But this process consumes power and makes most of night vision goggles a power hungry device. The material (known as nanocrystal) created by the ANU team can be used to create night vision devices that forgo electricity completely by converting the incoming photons from infrared spectrum into visible light.  

The major breakthrough ANU made is to successfully apply this unique nanocrystal on a plane of glass. The nanocrystal particle can be fabricated currently is 300 nanometers in diameter. Also, it requires light intense enough to make a conversion from infrared light to visible light. However, the research team hopes that further development will allow them to improve the efficiency and sensitivity of the conversion. By the time they are able to create a large quantity of these particles to cover the entire plane of glass, they can turn normal eye glasses to into night vision enabled goggles.

Bringing Night Vision to Normal Glass

From：https://www.landglass.net/News/Industry-News/Bringing-Night-Vision-to-Norma.html

FunGLASS research center in Slovakia established with €25M

The global glass community received excellent news of a €25 million investment in glass research to establish the new Centre for Functional and Surface-Functionalized Glasses (FunGLASS) in Trencín, Slovakia. The Centre includes partner institutions in Germany, Spain, and Italy.

The establishment of this European centre boosts the momentum and importance of glass research on a global scale. The purpose of the Centre is to conduct cutting edge research on glasses with special functional properties, as well as investigate novel strategies for functionalizing conventional glasses. The aim is to modify properties and add new functionalities to expand the range of applications in the optical, energy, structural, and biomedical sectors.

FunGLASS research center in Slovakia established with €25M

From:https://www.landglass.net/News/Industry-News/FunGLASS-research-center-in-Sl.html

Passive radiative cooling glass was developed

Passive radiative cooling draws heat from surfaces and radiates it into space as infrared radiation to which the atmosphere is transparent. Radiative cooling is an extremely attractive concept in the 21^st century. This technology has attracted broad interests from both fundamental sciences and real world applications, ranging from passive building cooling, renewable energy harvesting and passive refrigeration in arid regions. 

Recently, a team of University of Colorado Boulder engineers has developed a scalable manufactured metamaterial — an engineered material with extraordinary properties not found in nature — to act as a kind of air conditioning system for structures. It has the ability to cool objects even under direct sunlight with zero energy and water consumption. When backed with silver coating, the metamaterial shows a noon-time radiative cooling power of 93 W/m2 under direct sunshine. More critically, the reserarchers demonstrated high-throughput, economical roll-to-roll manufacturing of the metamaterial, vital for promoting radiative cooling as a viable energy technology.

Passive radiative cooling glass was developed

From:https://www.landglass.net/News/Industry-News/Passive-radiative-cooling-glas.html

US Scientists Developed New Glass Battery

John Goodenough, professor in the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin and co-inventor of the lithium-ion battery, recently published a paper on the development of a new battery technology. The new technology uses glass doped with alkali-metal atoms such as lithium or sodium as the battery electrolyte (the medium that transports the ions between the anode and the cathode during battery charging or discharging).

They find, for instance, that the lithium- or sodium-glass battery has three times the energy storage capacity of a comparable lithium-ion battery. But its electrolyte is neither flammable nor volatile, and it doesn’t appear to build up the spiky “dendrites” that have plagued lithium-ions as they charge and discharge repeatedly and can ultimately short out, causing battery fires. Besides, the glass battery charges in “minutes rather than hours and early tests of their technology suggest it’s also capable of perhaps thousands of charge-discharge cycles, and could perform well in both extremely cold and hot weather. (Initial estimates place its operating range between below -20º C and 60º C.) 

Goodenough said that his team is ready to welcome the golden moment. The next step is to solve the issues with the cathode. Commercialization is possible after practical application testing.

US Scientists Developed New Glass Battery

https://www.landglass.net/News/Industry-News/US-Scientists-Developed-New-Gl428c2b614d0f4fda8c238181.html

Ultra-thin Flexible Glass for OLED Products

KONFECT, a German collaborative research project developed a 25 microns thick flexible glass that can be used as the substrate for organic electronics and solar panels, as well as for the further development of future generations of OLED applications.

The thickness of ultra-thin glass can be up to 150um, and it is produced in a factory located in Schott, Germany, using a direct thermoforming process, in which the molten glass extends through the nozzle to the desired thickness of Grunenplan. The key point is that the glass can be produced in a low cost volume to volume (R2R) process. At present, the process is being further developed and is expected to be optimized before the middle of 2018. Tape manufacturer TESA is a special adhesive and functional layer for the glass to the final lamination step to provide comprehensive protection.

The researchers said that the use of flexible glass substrate can be in the optical quality, temperature stability, chemical consistency, gas density and mechanical resistance and a series of benefits. It can also be used as a substrate for low cost solar cells.

Ultra-thin Flexible Glass for OLED Products

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