If you thought the shatter-proof displayย on Motorola’s new Droid Turbo 2 was cool, wait until you hear what theย Institute of Industrial Science at theย University of Tokyo has developed. Using extremely durableย aluminum oxide compounds, a group of researchers from the institute have developed a type of hybrid glass that’s as strong as steel, and is extremely resistant toย both scratches and shattering. The researchers believe they can commercialize this breakthrough within the next five years, which means we won’t be seeing it on our smartphones anytime soon.
Recently we were really impressed with what Motorola was able to do with its shatterproof display for the Droid Turbo 2. However, IFLScience brings us word that some researchers at the University of Tokyoโs Institute of Industrial Science have come up with a breakthrough technology that could make the Droid Turbo 2โs display seem positively fragile by comparison.ย The secret behind this new type of hybrid glass is that it contains aluminum oxide compounds that are renowned for being extremely tough. The new glass is both shatterproof and highly resistant to scratching โ in fact, it seems that only diamonds are harder than the specific kinds of compounds used.ย While this sounds simple, it turns out that making hybrid glass with these kinds of compounds has proven to be extremely difficult in the past.ย โSpecific aluminum oxides are referred to as โaluminaโ mixtures, and although their remarkable properties have been known for some time now, the chemistry required to add them to glass has always proved difficult to put into practice,โ explains IFLScience. โWhenever material scientists have previously tried to mix alumina with glass, theyโve always used a container; unfortunately, the liquid mixture begins to crystallize out on the corners and edges of the container before itโs had a chance to mingle properly with the glass.โ