Nanotech Coating Prevents Fogging

MilSF1 writes "MIT scientists have applied for a patent on a coating process that reduces or eliminates fogging on glass surfaces (car windshields, eyeglasses, etc). The new coating was described today at the 230th national meeting of the American Chemical Society."

IF u cant afford that...

[domipheus]

And want a cheaper solution for keeping your bathroom mirror fog free, before you get in the shower/bath/whatever, rub some shaving foam into the glass. not alot - about a cm^2 blob. then rub with a very damp cloth so it dissapears and u can see your reflection.

Have the shower!

Get out, go to shave, and voila! No foggy window!

This nanotech gaff will definately work wonders in the car. Hey, it will mean I wont have to bust my gut when I get in having to clean every window of fog while my gf drives. now that I mention it, I should really learn to drive...

I wonder...

[Vo0k]

I wonder if it can be applied to motherboard, if you plan using liquid nitrogen, dry ice or such for cooling :) Air humidity condensation on nearby elements is one of the worst problems with high-efficiency CPU cooling.

1947 solution

[Spy Handler]

The X-1 had a bad problem with its windshield fogging up and frosting. On the flight before it went supersonic, according to "Yeager: Autobiography":

"My crew chief applied a coating of Drene Shampoo to the windshield. For some unknown reason it worked as an effective antifrost device, and we continued using it even after the government purchased a special chemical that cost eighteen bucks a bottle."

So why is this being called nanotech?

[AltGrendel]

Basically, they take a glass/plastic mix of microscopic particles, coat the glass and then subject it to high heat, making a glass sponge (Very simplified explination).
I always think of nanotech as something more novel. If this were thousands of billions of tiny squeegee bulldozers one micron across moving the water to the edge of the glass, then I'd consider it nanotech.

It's not "nanotech" -- it's a chemical coating

[DrHanser]

I don't know why they're bandying the term "nanotechnology" around, because it's not. It's a silica coating that prevents fogging. In fact, the only reason this made it to slashdot is because the term "nanotechnology" was used in the title of the original press release [eurekalert.org]. You'd think the people at MIT and the ACS would know better.

the science and technology of building electronic circuits and devices from single atoms and molecules.

This does not meet those criteria.

Two Lower Tech Solutions

[Lord Byron II]

As any scuba diver will tell you, spit works wonderfully to prevent your dive goggles from fogging up.

And if you wish for a slightly higher tech solution, your local auto parts store sells a product called Fog-X which when applied to glass, prevents fogging.

Re:Scuba Divers know a solution...

[se2schul]

Oh, it certainly works if you do it right. 1) Make sure that you cover the entire glass surface inside and out with spit. 2) Rinse lightly. If you rinse out the entire saliva film, you will fog. It's the film that prevents the fogging. 3) Dive immediately. Leaving it more than a minute or 2 will cause fogging for some reason. BTW, I have 12 years of diving and over 800 dives without a fogged mask :)

Prior Art on this concept (links)

[snowwrestler]

An engineer named Richard Hartman developed antifog glasses for whitewater kayaking based on this concept several years ago. He developed a hydrophillic coating that was baked onto the lenses, and which prevented the formation of fog droplets. He even offered them for sale for a time--send him your prescription and he would send back a pair of glasses. I don't think he does that anymore.

Here [boatertalk.com] is a recent post describing his work.

Here [boatertalk.com] is a post from 2001 answering some questions about the glasses.

Here [boatertalk.com] is a search on the Boatertalk forum for most posts about it.

Re:awsome

[Lumpy]

old style? they have not sold those for a decade.

every one I have seen looks like a row of fuel injectors on the air path goingto the house. they produce a super fine mist in pulses controlled by the embedded processor.

I have not seen one of those old style humidifiers cince the mid 90's in a house. they atsrted selling the fuel injector type in the late 80's.

Re:Eyeglasses?

[cloudmaster]

They make an anti-fog product sold under the Rain-X brand (in a black bottle, generally). It doesn't work very well on glass, and is just as safe on plastic as steel wool. :)

FWIW, my full-face helmet has a little vent on the front below the mask, and a shield over my nose that keeps me from breathing right on it. The combination seems to work fairly well as long as I'm moving. It's a Bell Sprint, and I'm fairly happy with it (in combination with a mirrored face shield, for occasionally riding off into the sunset). Their website sucks - as you can't link directly to a product, it uses Flash, and they don't even list that they have different face shields - but most any non-Harley "powersports" shop I've been in carries their stuff.

Re:So why is this being called nanotech?

[alragh]

something one micron across would be microtech by definition

Not if the components used to construct it were nanoscale.

This would, in my opinion, be a better use of the term nanotech - technology consisting of nanoscale components. Nanoscale coatings for various things have probably been available for some time.

MIT overrated

[eestar]

Why is it that every time any dope at MIT creates or invents some invention, we all have to hear about it. I am sure if it was invented at University of Southwestern South Dakota A & M, we would never have heard of the damn thing. I know MIT has a lot of smart people, but for godsakes we are talking about fogging of glass. This is not Nobel Prize work. P.S.--Yes I am bitter those assholes rejected me from their Phd program.