Following its announcement late last week regarding new "3D" curved Gorilla Glass for smartphones and other products, Apple's glass supplier Corning today officially announced its antimicrobial Gorilla Glass, incorporating ionic silver into the glass to inhibit growth of bacteria and other organisms.
The new antimicrobial Gorilla Glass will be included in a new version of Steelcase's RoomWizard conference room scheduling device, which is being shown at CES this week in Las Vegas, and the company says that it is working with "numerous manufacturers" to develop applications for the material. The company has also demonstrated that it can produce antimicrobial Gorilla Glass in high volumes needed for popular products such as the iPhone."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," said James R. Steiner, senior vice president and general manager, Corning Specialty Materials. "This innovation combines best-in-class antimicrobial function without compromising Gorilla Glass properties. Our specialty glass provides an excellent substrate for engineering antimicrobial and other functional attributes to help expand the capabilities of our Corning Gorilla Glass and address the needs of new markets."
Amid the increased talk of sapphire as a possible replacement for Gorilla Glass in future mobile devices, Corning is clearly continuing to push its technology forward, with the new techniques for curving the glass allowing for innovative new product designs and antimicrobial properties serving as another selling point for device manufacturers and consumers. Corning is also working on next-generation flexible "Willow Glass", but the company has indicated that it will be several years before that product can make its way into mobile device display assemblies.
Article Link: CES 2014: Corning Announces Antimicrobial Gorilla Glass to Fight Germs on Mobile Devices