How to make glass opaque on one side?

27.03.2018 0

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In urban areas, residents of the lower floors want to maintain privacy. To do this, you need to close the windows from prying eyes. It is desirable that the protection does not at the same time prevent the penetration of sunlight from the street. There are several options for this: film, blinds or curtains. Each of them has advantages and disadvantages.

How to make transparent glass opaque?

Without windows with transparent glass, a house is not a house at all, but just some kind of barn. However, when darkness falls, the advantage turns into a disadvantage. To hide from prying eyes, people came up with curtains and blinds. Is it possible to do without them? American researchers have developed a technique by which the transparency of glass can be changed with the flick of a switch.

The invention of transparent sheet glass in the Middle Ages was undoubtedly an epoch-making event. At first, this sought-after product was terribly expensive; only the richest people and church parishes could buy uneven and cloudy, but still transparent glass. Today the situation has changed; the price of ordinary window glass is perhaps the lowest among all other types of glass products.

The transparency of glass does not surprise anyone; there is even a saying: transparent as glass. Give modern consumers something new and unusual. They might like the adjustable transparency glass developed by researchers at Harvard University.

Strictly speaking, variable transparency is not that new. On the market you can find both glass and films that can transmit light completely or partially, depending on the needs of the consumer. However, previous technologies are based on electrochemical reactions. The production of glasses and films with adjustable transparency on the market is quite expensive, which is reflected in the final price.

First introduced by Professor David Clarke and his postdoctoral fellow Samuel Shian, the transparency of glass is changed using what is known as geometric adjustment.

The new product is based on a sheet of regular window glass or clear plastic sandwiched between two layers of elastomer (elastic polymer). To make something unusual out of ordinary glass, a layer of pieces of very thin silver nanowire is sprayed onto both sides.

The nanowire pieces are too thin to create any noticeable obstruction to light, so the glass retains its transparency almost unchanged. But as soon as electrical voltage is applied, the situation instantly changes. When exposed to electricity, the nanowires on both sides of the sheet are excited and attracted to each other, compressing and deforming the soft elastomer.

How to make a window opaque?

I live on the 1st floor, the window faces the courtyard, next to the entrance door. I want to make the glass opaque so that I can't be seen from the outside. I thought about sticking a regular matte film, but I read on the Internet that there are some sprays for frosting glass. I don't know which is better. How do you think?