Spray-On Glass Features Unique Protective Coating

Liquid glass is a compound of almost pure silicon dioxide; the spray forms a water-resistant layer that can be cleaned with water alone. Food-processing companies ran trials that demonstrated that even using bleach was no more effective than covering sterile surfaces with a film of liquid glass and wiping them down with hot water. According to The Telegraph:

"The patent for the technology is owned by a German company, Nanopool, which is in discussions with UK companies and the NHS about the use of liquid glass for a wide range of purposes.

"Several organizations are said to be testing the product, including a train company in Britain, which is using liquid glass on both the interior and exterior of the train, a luxury hotel chain, a designer clothing company and a German branch of a hamburger chain.

"Neil McClelland, Nanopool's UK project manager, told The Independent: 'Very soon almost every product you purchase will be protected with a highly durable, easy-to-clean coating...'"

If you think that covering materials with an almost invisibly thin layer of protectant is kind of science-fictional, you're right. Fans of sf writer Clifford Simak remember the special coating used to protect the galactic transit station, in his 1963 classic Way Station:

"It was as if the knob was covered with some hard, slick coating, like a coat of brittle ice, on which the fingers slipped without exerting any pressure on the knob...

"There was something covering this house which made it slick and smooth - so smooth that dust could not cling upon its surface nor could weather stain it."
(Read more about the frictionless coating from Way Station)

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This Science Fiction in the News story used with permission of Technovelgy.com