Mobile Technology

Corning reveals antimicrobial version of Gorilla Glass

Antimicrobial Corning Gorilla Glass is claimed to kill up to 99.9 percent of bacterial populations on its surface
Antimicrobial Corning Gorilla Glass is claimed to kill up to 99.9 percent of bacterial populations on its surface

Last July, Corning announced that germ-killing glass for mobile device screens could be less than two years away. Well, things are apparently progressing quickly. Yesterday, the company unveiled its Antimicrobial Corning Gorilla Glass – although you can't buy a phone that features it quite yet.

"Corning’s Antimicrobial Gorilla Glass inhibits the growth of algae, mold, mildew, fungi, and bacteria because of its built-in antimicrobial property, which is intrinsic to the glass and effective for the lifetime of a device," says Corning Specialty Materials general manager James R. Steiner.

The material consists of Gorilla Glass 3 containing embedded ionic silver, which is known for its ability to continuously kill microbes over an indefinite time period. That extra ingredient reportedly has no significant effect on the mechanical, optical, or dielectric properties of the glass.

Corning has demonstrated the potential for large-scale production of the glass, and is now working with a number of manufacturers to test it in various applications. Steelcase is already on board to use the material in its RoomWizard touchscreen room scheduling system. Along with its use in electronic devices, however, the glass could also end up being used as an antimicrobial coating on "frequently-touched interior architectural surfaces."

And for anyone who's wondering why antimicrobial smartphone glass is even needed, keep in mind that several studies have shown that the average phone contains more harmful bacteria than the flush lever in a men's public toilet.

More information on Antimicrobial Corning Gorilla Glass can be found in the video below.

Source: Corning

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2 comments
Ozuzi
Sounds good, but I'd still rather it was harder to scratch
dalroth5
And for the 99% of us who _don't_ suffer from OCD, it's a complete waste of money.
We live at the bottom of Earth's troposphere, in a rich, thick soup of bacteria, spores, pollen, skin scales from lots of different mammals, feather fibres, soil...and we've been adapted to all of that over around 10,000 generations of our species and about 2.25 million years of hominid evolution before that. So IT DOESN'T MATTER.
Couldn't Corning think of something useful to do?