Inventors of unbreakable glass with high image quality for devices say it may change vision of the future
- 27 researchers from around the world report new composite glass from zinc minerals and nanocrystal can be made into a self-illuminating, antibacterial display
- Chocolate biscuits inspired the two-year project after scientists had afternoon tea at the University of Cambridge
A global team of scientists who developed uncrackable glass for lighting LEDs, and phone and TV screens said they were inspired by chocolate-chip biscuits.
The team of 27 researchers in Australia, Britain, China, France, Japan, Singapore, Slovenia and the United States published their findings in the peer-reviewed journal Science on Friday.
Lead author Hou Jingwei, a chemical engineer with the University of Queensland in Australia, said when he shipped teammates samples of the glass across the world, he did not need to put fragile stickers on the package.
He compared the process of making the glass to that of baking chocolate biscuits.
“The dough’s material is made from zinc minerals. Australia happens to be one of the largest zinc ore exporters, selling it at about US$100 a tonne. We can transform zinc ore into the glass material easily and quickly without toxic solvents.