German Scientists Developing New Way to Shape Glass——Say Goodbye to Mold

The traditional way to integrate a 3D object with a flat sheet glass is to heat the glass and bend it with a bending mold. However, mold making is quite costly and casting takes time. What the scientists at Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials (IWM) developing is a laser-based alternative which possibly becomes a cheaper and quicker way to process glass.

The process begins with placing a sheet glass in the open space of an oven, facing down (the oven is pre-heated to the temperature just below the glass melting point). Once the glass reaches the pre-heated temperature, a laser beam guided by moving reflective mirrors will selectively heat the specific spots that you intend to change the shape, melting the glass in the spot into thick honey-like fluid. In absence of support under the glass plate (other than the support around the edges), the gravity will make the heated portions sink. As soon as the desired form has been achieved, the laser is switched off, leaving the glass cooling down and solidifying again in its new shape. 

The whole process takes approximately half an hour. Depending on the shape required, it takes only a few minutes to place the glass in the oven, exposed to the laser, and take it out for cooling.

German Scientists Developing New Way to Shape Glass——Say Goodbye to Mold

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The First Passive House Developed Independently in Gao Bei Dian Saves 31% of Energy Consumption

The first passive apartment building located in Gao Bei Dian International Innovation Park for National Building Energy Technology has just been certified by PHI of Germany. 

In recent years, in a context of rising threat from energy crisis and pollution, while energy saving and emission reduction showing the advantages, high efficient passive house has become the global trend of development for super-low energy consumption passive dwelling. The passive apartment building project at Gao Bei Dian was constructed in 2015. With 9 stories above the ground and one story underground, the building has a construction area of 8016 m2.  The apartment completes the air purification and heat exchange through an integrated central system in place of traditional HVAC system. Physical simulation by PHPP application shows that all indicators of the building have met the certification standards of PHI. With overall energy saving rate reaches 91%, it reduces standard coal consumption by 87.92 tons and CO2 emission by 234 tons. 

As it’s said by Dr. Feist of PHI at the certification ceremony, “The building was certified in absence of PHI technical support and constructed totally with products made in China. It means a great deal and has laid a solid foundation for the promotion of passive house in China.”  PHI is currently the most authoritative certification body for passive house in the world.

The First Passive House Developed Independently in Gao Bei Dian Saves 31% of Energy Consumption

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Korean Researchers Invented Multi-purpose Nanocoating Antimicrobial Spray

Korean researchers have invented easy-to-use nanocoating antimicrobial spray using plant-derived polyphenol. The spray can rapidly form a protective layer on any surface, ideal for medical glassware and foods.

Nanocoating antimicrobial technology is one of the cutting-edge technologies in the food and agricultural industry. However, there are still technical limitations to have a non-toxic, stable and durable coating. Currently, the conventional immersion coating methods dip the substrates in nanocoating solutions. The process is troublesome and not suitable for products in large quantities.

The new coating method developed by Korea Institute of Science and Technology can be applied to surfaces of various materials, creating an antibacterial nanometer-thick film safe to human. Lab results indicate that the technology is able to coat a variety of different materials including glass, metals, plastics, as well as textile fabrics.

Korean Researchers Invented Multi-purpose Nanocoating Antimicrobial Spray

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Symposium for Industrial Standards of “Architectural Anti-Reflective Coated Glass” Held in Tianjin

Recently, China Building Glass and Industrial Glass Association held the first symposium on the industrial standards of “Architectural Anti-Reflective Coated Glass” in Tianjin. The meeting was attended by Executive Vice President of the association Baiheng Zhang, leaders and committee members of Insulated Glass Professional Committee, Coated Glass Professional Committee, as well as members from the expert group and the standard drafter.

As Executive Vice President Baiheng Zhang said, the standards have high degree of requirements and difficulties. While there are many complaints in the society of today regarding pollutions from glass reflection, the current local policies in the nation are insufficient to serve as the unified standards.  Provided that the standards can successfully take shape this time, it will be conducive to the promotion of anti-reflective coated glass applications in the future.  Although the standard-setting is a tough job, it can definitely be accomplished through the joint efforts of our industrial experts.

The standard drafter, Mr. Zeng Yubin from CSG Group explained the discussion paper for industrial standards of “Architectural Anti-Reflective Coated Glass” sentence for sentence, followed by comments and suggestions from participating experts and invited representatives.

Symposium for Industrial Standards of “Architectural Anti-Reflective Coated Glass” Held in Tianjin

British Scientists Developed New PV Glass Brick

We have seen such products as solar windows and solar roofs that can transform collected solar energy into electric energy; however surfaces of most buildings are all exposed to the sun. The researchers in University of Exeter, UK created a kind of new product recently, which can convert the sun's rays into usable energy.

The product is called Solar Squared. The transparent bricks comprise several optical components and each optical component focuses sunlight on each solar cell. All elements of each brick can be connected, bricks can also be connected and solar energy is transformed into electric energy at last. Moreover, the electric energy can be delivered to the power system in reverse.

Researchers are looking for partners for commercial testing now and they hope to provide finished products sometime next year.

British Scientists Developed New PV Glass Brick

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Taiwan's National Tsing Hua University Developed Smart Light-controlled and Temperature-controlled Graphene Glass

Dai Nianhua, the Professor of Department of Materials, National Tsing Hua University guided student teams to develop smart glass with graphene, which can adjust transparency with temperature so as to lower the internal temperature.

The global warming effect is throughout the country and some areas even have 50℃. Graphene has the characteristic of transforming luminous energy into heat energy, it becomes fluent material after being mixed with temperature susceptibility hydrogel and after it is injected between two pieces of glass, the smart glass will turn to be opaqueness within 1-2 minute(s) to obstruct multiple lights if the environment temperature is more than 32℃. If the technology is applied on the side glass of autos, the rapid increase of in-car temperature can be avoided; and when the drivers switch on cool air on autos, the glass will turn transparent after the temperature drops.

Different colors of smart glass can be produced according to different requirements after adjustment of the formulation, which can be applied in smart houses. The technology won an innovation award and we are applying for patents in many countries now.

Taiwan's National Tsing Hua University Developed Smart Light-controlled and Temperature-controlled Graphene Glass

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New High Transmittance Glass Blocks 90% of IR

A new type of high transmittance and high thermal insulation float glass with independent intellectual property rights has been developed successfully recently, setting new world record in energy-saving index. The product has passed the technical appraisal review conducted by China Building Material Federation of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development. 

By blending compound oxide in glass during melting, the new float glass achieves high transmittance and high thermal insulation with a unique glass body additive formula and process. A 6mm thick glass emitting soft blue glow offers 70% of optical transmittance while blocking 90% of IR under strong sunlight, without any coating film or shield.

Compared with similar products in U.S., the creative technology does not require new production lines.  As the new float glass can be manufactured simply by adding compound oxide in traditional glass kilns, this innovation greatly lowers the production cost and is a major breakthrough in glass processing industry.

New High Transmittance Glass Blocks 90% of IR

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