Phase-Separated Glass for Pure White Appearance and Shielding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional glass materials used for electronic device housings and building structures face challenges in achieving a pure white color without a bluish tint, while also maintaining designability, scratch resistance, and energy efficiency, particularly in high-temperature and humid environments like tunnels and galleries.
Innovation Solution
A phase-separated glass with specific chemical composition and light reflectance properties is developed, featuring a total light reflectance of 10% or more in the 380-780 nm range and a maximum-to-minimum reflectance ratio of 4.2 or less, which reduces wavelength dependence and ensures a pure white color, along with chemical strengthening for enhanced strength and durability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If a white coating layer is formed on transparent glass to achieve a white appearance, then the housing has a white color, but the coating material has high transparency and cannot provide sufficient shielding property even when formed as a thick layer
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses phase-separated glass containing dispersed particles (such as colloidal silica or metal oxides) within a glass matrix. This composite structure provides both the white appearance through light scattering and sufficient shielding property, eliminating the need for additional white coating layers that fail to provide adequate shielding.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent achieves white color through controlled phase separation that creates light-scattering particles within the glass. By adjusting particle size, distribution, and concentration, the glass exhibits pure white color without bluish tint while maintaining high shielding property against light transmission.
2Reliability
If a thick white coating layer or multi-layer coating is formed to achieve sufficient shielding property, then the shielding property is improved, but the number of steps and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the shielding function from separate coating layers and integrates it into the glass material itself through phase separation. This eliminates the need for multiple coating steps and reduces manufacturing complexity while maintaining high shielding property.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the whitening function and shielding function into a single phase-separated glass material. The dispersed particles simultaneously provide light scattering for white appearance and light blocking for shielding, merging multiple functions into one material system.
3Reliability
If a coating film is formed on a concave housing surface to achieve uniform shielding property, then the shielding property is improved, but the process becomes complicated and cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent achieves uniform shielding property throughout the entire glass housing including concave surfaces through homogeneous phase separation. The dispersed particles are distributed uniformly within the glass matrix, ensuring consistent shielding performance regardless of surface geometry, eliminating the need for special coating processes on complex surfaces.
4Shape
If conventional glass is used for housing to achieve clarity and decoration, then the aesthetic appearance is improved, but light from the light source passes through the housing and is recognized from the outside
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a composite glass structure with dispersed particles that scatter light to produce white appearance while blocking light transmission. This composite structure maintains the aesthetic quality of glass while providing the light shielding property that conventional clear glass lacks.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The phase-separated glass achieves a pure white color without a bluish tint, maintains excellent designability, and provides high strength and durability, even when scratched or chipped, while also reducing energy consumption through improved light reflectance and shielding properties.
Implementation Method 1
a phase-separated glass having a total light reflectance of 10% or more in a wavelength range of 380 nm to 780 nm and a value obtained by dividing a maximum value of the total light reflectance by a minimum value of the total light reflectance of 4.2 or less
Implementation Method 2
A phase-separated glass with specific chemical composition and light reflectance properties is developed
Implementation Method 3
glass has so far been chemically strengthened, thereby forming a compressive stress layer in the glass surface
Implementation Method 4
forming a compressive stress layer in the glass surface
Data Source
AI summary
A phase-separated glass for chemical strengthening has a total light reflectance of 10% or more in a wavelength range of 380 nm to 780 nm and a value obtained by dividing a maximum value of the total light reflectance by a minimum value of the total light reflectance of 4.2 or less, when measured in a form of a plate having a thickness of 1 mm.