Japanese scientists develop near unbreakable glass, as tough as steel

Scientists create a new type of glass that is almost as hard as steel.

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Scientists at the University of Tokyo's Institute of Industrial Science have created a new type of glass that is insanely strong, where it is almost as hard as steel.

Japanese scientists develop near unbreakable glass, as tough as steel | TweakTown.com

Assistant Professor at the University of Tokyo, Atsunobu Masuno, said: "We will establish a way to mass-produce the new material shortly. We are looking to commercialize the technique within five years". This breakthrough is significant, as it could, and most likely will lead to the development of much tougher windows, and so much more.

How does the new glass work? The Asahi Shimbun reports: "Oxide glass mainly consists of silicon dioxide, with its strength boosted by mixing in alumina, an oxide of aluminum. But it had been difficult for scientists to form glass containing a large amount of alumina because the oxide causes crystallization when the glass comes into contact with its container".

The scientists went around this problem by using a containerless processing technique. The scientists used gas to push the chemical components into the air, where they were then able to synthesize it to form the glass. From there, the glass was colorless, transparent, super touch, with 50% of it being composed of alumina. The modulus of the new glass, the indicator of rigidity, was twice as high compared to typical oxide glass and nearly the same level as steel and iron.

NEWS SOURCE:ajw.asahi.com

Anthony joined the TweakTown team in 2010 and has since reviewed 100s of graphics cards. Anthony is a long time PC enthusiast with a passion of hate for games built around consoles. FPS gaming since the pre-Quake days, where you were insulted if you used a mouse to aim, he has been addicted to gaming and hardware ever since. Working in IT retail for 10 years gave him great experience with custom-built PCs. His addiction to GPU tech is unwavering and has recently taken a keen interest in artificial intelligence (AI) hardware.

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