Novel Lens Treatment Prevents Glasses From Fogging

Mar, 2022 - By WMR

Scientists developed a new method that uses oxygen plasma for treating lens or other plastic surfaces to make them permanently fog-free

Glasses can get foggy pretty often and most of the anti-fog solutions require to be replied frequently. A team of scientists from the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore developed a new method to treat lens or other plastic surfaces using oxygen plasma to make it permanently fog-free as well as self-cleaning. The treatment cleans the lens and even improves the adhesion of a thin film that is later deposited onto it.

This transparent film is developed from two layers, where one consists silicon dioxide, and the other one consists titanium oxide. Using a pulsed laser deposition process, this layer is applied on the plastic. Further procedure used a laser for vaporizing each of the two layer materials in a vacuum chamber. The silicon dioxide and titanium dioxide rises upwards, when they get vaporized and then at the end they’re deposited on the plastic substrate on the top of the chamber. Unlike other anti-fog coatings, the new coating causes tiny water droplets that settle on the lens and spread out in a consistent film through which can seeing is easy. It takes only 93 milliseconds to happen as a droplet touches the film.

When tested, the film also showed resistance to abrasion caused by rubbing it with a cheese cloth pad, which is a standard method to test abrasion resistance. Moreover, the film stayed adhered to the plastic even after an adhesive cellophane tape was applied and peeled away. Furthermore, this plastic with new treatment is exposed to sunlight or UV light source, the titanium dioxide gets activated and breaks down organic contaminants like bacteria and dirt particles.