

Liquid glass: the spray-on scientific revelation - prat
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/7125556/Liquid-glass-the-spray-on-scientific-revelation.html

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CWuestefeld
_The spray, which is harmless to the environment,_

The first thing I think when I read something like that is "how many years
until they regret saying that?"

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anigbrowl
It's just silicon dioxide, same as sand; the innovation here is is to liquefy
and suspend it so it can form a layer rather than crystallize (looking at the
product datasheets, it has a shelf life and is best within 6 months of
manufacture - after which, I presume, it begins to crystallize or the SiO2
molecules begin to fall out of solution.

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alaithea
"Just" silicon dioxide? Ever heard of the irreversible lung disease,
silicosis? <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicosis>

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anigbrowl
It's in solution in water or alcohol and applied by spray and evaporation, not
airborne as dry particles. I'd guess this risk is quite manageable. Germany
isn't exactly a hotbed of environmental abuse.

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joezydeco
The press releases mention it's available on the consumer level in Germany.
Does anyone know the brand name and/or distributor?

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anigbrowl
Nanopool, it's in the article. I don't think they have a US distributor. I
wrote and inquired about it, if I lern anything interesting I'll post it.

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joezydeco
I'm going to be in Germany in the summer, I was curious if anyone knew where
to purchase it there.

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pmichaud
Sounds like a fairy tale? Any experts here want to chime in on whether
airborne silicone dioxide is really as harmless and versatile as they claim?

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adriand
There are so many stories in non-technical media that make you question
whether or not they're pure fantasy. The only technical area I have advanced
knowledge of is software programming, and often when I read media stories
where that knowledge is relevant it's really cringe-worthy. I can imagine an
engineer at this company reading this and thinking, "well, not quite..."

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realitygrill
nice, you sidestepped the Gell-Mann Amnesia Effect

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billybob
I don't get it. You're spraying a surface with tiny particles of glass, right?
So how would they form a cohesive layer, instead of sitting on top like loose
sand, to be brushed off (or ground into the surface) by the first thing that
touches them? Coating something in actual glass requires melting it and
letting it harden into interlocking structures, right?

Sounds like snake oil to me.

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jcdreads
Nah. There are all sorts of ways to suspend glass microparticles and a binder
in some kind of solvent that evaporates after spraying, leaving a glass-
particle-and-binder layer behind. The physics/chemistry of it are pretty easy
(for those so inclined). What's probably hard is making the deposited layer
durable and non-toxic. For example, if the glass microparticles turn into
aerosolized dust then you probably don't want to do a lot of breathing
anywhere nearby; think asbestos and cigarettes.

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Daniel_Newby
This sounds like sodium silicate (or a similar silicate salt), a water soluble
material that has long been used as a surface sealant. It is widely used to
protect concrete surfaces. Chemical toxicity is minimal. Silicosis should not
be a problem as long as the material remains reasonably soluble after
application -- it will self-dissolve in the body.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_silicate>

