Super Sapphire Anano Construction Resistant to Scratch, Glare, Mist and Dust

No matter how many times you drop, you won’t be able to scratch it. Glasses that prevent glare. A windshield that won’t look dusty. All of these are possibilities, thanks to new ways to produce sapphire.

Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have discovered the technology to award sapphires a superpower. However, sapphire is considered an important material across many different fields, from defense to home appliances to next-generation windows.

“Sapphire is a very valuable material due to its hardness and many other positive properties,” said Chih-Hao Chang, an associate professor at Walker School of Mechanical Engineering and a leader in the new research. “But the same properties that make it attractive make it difficult to manufacture on a small scale.”

Chang and his team hope to alleviate this challenge with new sapphire-based nanostructures, as described in the Materials Vision. The nanostructures show the highest aspect ratio ever for this material. This allows the superpower to be able to do so without losing its rigidity and hardness completely.

Though not as scratch resistant as traditional bulk sapphire, the nanostructures rival tungsten and traditional glass, these new sapphire anano structures fight back against mist, dust and glare with their self-cleaning ability.

“This is very exciting as nanostructures are traditionally considered vulnerable, but making them with sapphire can solve this problem,” said a recent Ph.D. He graduated from Chang’s lab and is one of the lead authors.

Inspired by Moth Eye, the tapered profile of the Sapphire nanostructure promotes light transmission and reduces glare. The high surface energy and aspect ratio of the nanostructure creates a superhydrophobic surface to prevent mist. The structure can also be treated to be a superhydrophobic surface to allow water droplets to roll from the surface.

“Our sapphire analog structures are not only multifunctional, but also mechanically robust, making them ideal for applications where durability and performance are important.”

This technology has many advantages. For consumers, this could lead to easy-to-read smartphones with challenging lighting conditions, lenses, and fog-free windows, cameras that are not prone to glare, and durable windshields that don’t look dusty.

Once you embark on a next-generation space trip, Anti-Dust Properties can ensure that mission-critical equipment is dust free during landing missions on other planets. It can lead to the creation of more powerful infrared sensors and protective windows in defensive applications.

“Our self-cleaning sapphire surfaces can maintain a 98.7% dust-free area with gravity alone,” said Andrew Tonell, a student who conducted the dust adhesion experiment. “This is a significant improvement over existing dust mitigation technologies and is particularly beneficial for space applications where water is not readily available for cleaning.”

Researchers are aiming to make this technology come true and are trying to improve it in several ways. They expand their manufacturing to apply these nanostructures to larger samples, improve mechanical and chemical properties, increase capabilities, and explore more realistic applications.