Pilkington plc, the UK glass manufacturer, announced the development of Pilkington ActivTM – glass with a self-cleaning action that heralds a major innovation in the largest sector of the glass indust…
Pilkington plc, the UK glass manufacturer, announced the development of Pilkington ActivTM – glass with a self-cleaning action that heralds a major innovation in the largest sector of the glass industry. Incorporating the latest Pilkington online coating technology, Pilkington ActivTM self-cleaning glass has been developed for use in external windows. The product incorporates a proprietary dual action coating, using hydrophilic and photocatalytic properties to eliminate water and organic and inorganic deposits from the surface of the glass. The effects are continuous and will last the lifetime of the product. Pilkington ActivTM is being tested in Ireland, Austria and North America beginning in March, ahead of wider European and North American launches planned for the end of this year. Paolo Scaroni, Group Chief Executive, said, “Pilkington ActivTM self-cleaning glass is the latest example of the type of innovation that has secured Pilkington a reputation as a pioneer in the glass industry during the 20th century. This exciting new product, which virtually eliminates the chore of window cleaning, is expected to secure a significant part of the world“s flat glass market. We look forward to launching the product at the end of this year”. The key element of Pilkington ActivTM self-cleaning glass is a microscopically thin, transparent coating of a specially developed compound. This patented coating is bonded permanently to the surface of the glass by a special manufacturing process. The overall thickness of the coating, which has several distinct chemical layers, is around 50nm (50 millionths of a millimetre). The surface coating has two important chemical properties which, when combined, make the glass “self cleaning”. First, it is hydrophilic. It attracts water and causes it to “sheet” on the surface of the glass, preventing the formation of separate droplets and ensuring that loose particles of dust and dirt can be washed naturally from the surface during normal rainy weather. Secondly, it is Photocatalytic. Ultra violet (UV) radiation – always abundant during daylight hours – causes it to react chemically with unwanted dirt and organic deposits, oxidising them and breaking their adherence to the surface of the glass. After an initial “running in” period of several days, during which the coating gradually becomes active, UV radiation absorbed during daylight hours is sufficient to ensure that the necessary chemical reactions continue through the night. Pilkington ActivTM is the latest in a long line of innovations from Pilkington which stretch back throughout the last century. These include the twin-grinding process developed by Pilkington for making large sized plate glass, the revolutionary float glass process which was eventually licensed by the company to all the other major flat glass manufacturers in the world, high performance energy-saving Pilkington K Glass, on-line solar control glass, Pilkington Pyrostop fire-resistant glass. Pilkington has also been the pioneer in developing body-tinted glass for cars.