Conventional self-cleaning glass curtain wall involves chemical vapour deposition and sputtering technologies. These thin-film technologies require high vacuum or intense heat. It is therefore costly and not widely used. Led by Prof. Yang Hong-xing and Dr Lu Lin at the Department of Building Services Engineering, the research team has recently developed a cost-effective method for curtain walls called “Self-cleaning nano-coating”.
The coating can simply be silk-screened onto the glass at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. With its super-hydrophilic character, the coating shows superior cleaning performance. It spreads out water on it nicely and brushes away any inorganic dust on the surface along with rain. Organic dirt can also be dissolved under the photocatalysis. In addition, the coating can withstand higher temperature than glass does and be silk-screened over the substrate before tempering. After tempered, it forms a robust and durable layer that resists scratch. Under normal usage, it lasts for more than 20 years. Apart from curtain walls, mirrors and glass windows, the nano composite coating can also be applied on photovoltaic cells and stainless steel surfaces that benefit most from its self-cleaning property. Details>>