Query regarding glass surfaces?

There are products out there that do that, google for it. hint: it is a liquid.

Green

Thanks for your reply?..and all the others. I?m well aware there are a whole variety of anti-fog liquids/gels/waxes available. In fact there?s a particular brand that I use for masks/goggles - it?s absolutely amazing, and I swear by it. (I?m more than happy to let you know, but I don?t want to seem like an advertisement for them) But what I?m trying to do is achieve a permanent effect that is 100% effective; there already is some technology out there that does exactly that. Take a look:

Regards

Gas Bag

If it is a hydrated silicate surface you monolayer it with a reactive silane, RSiX3. -X is typically -OMe or -Cl. R is typically a three atom spacer then a quaternized ammonium with counterion. That drastically reduces the surface tension and water sheets not fogs. Presumably a PEO or poly(vinylpyrrolidinone) oligomer tail would also the job.

Rain-X takes the opposite tack. Now R is a silicone oligomer and the treated surface is hyperhydrophobic. Water violently beads but a breeze blows it off. Very nice for windshields - your wipers glide across the surface if you need them at all. After treatment, lightly burnish the surface, wipe with rubbing alcohol, and burnish again. That gets rid of most of the residual goo.

One wonders why competition swimmers don't "condition" their skin with hydrophobes. Uncoupling the otherwise wetted surface would substantially decrease friction.

(snip)

Now that everybody knows, we should expect pre-competition exams by forensic dermatologists at Olympic swim meets.

they tried this in the America's Cup sailboat races, along with something akin to sharkskin riblets, but those ideas were quickly banned.