Here’s Why Antibacterial Glass is making a trend in the Industry. All that we should know about Antibacterial Glass. As awareness is increasing among people about maintaining hygiene so that thay can prevent infectious diseases. The need to provide an architectural solution to areas such as healthcare, military, food and beverage, and others in order to maintain hygiene.
Antibacterial glass is a thin coated reflective surface that have bactericidal and fungicidal properties that is why they are able to destroy bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms. Glass is coated with substances having antibacterial properties. These coated substances have the ability to prevent the growth and propagation of bacteria on the surface. It increases hygiene in both industrial and domestic use.
Antibacterial Glass has brought an innovation in the glass design industries. It is believed that about 99.9% of the bacteria are destroyed by this glass along with this it also prevents the spread of fungi on the surface. In the performance test of antibacterial glass, it was seen to inhibit the growth of bacteria such as Escherichia coli, staphylococcus aureus, and pseudomonas aeruginosa. Due to this incredible property, antibacterial glass is used at the places where strict hygiene is mandatory.
The composition of different substances such as silver, copper, zinc, etc. is required to be coated to make the glass antibacterial in nature. The main coating material include
Silver is primarily used to manufacture antibacterial glass. It has a better ability to impede chemical bonds present in the cell wall of bacteria that imparts improved antibacterial properties. Several forms of silver such as silver zeolite, silver nanoparticles, and silver salts can be used for microbial inhibition. On the glass substrate, a thin coating of silver is done. Mostly silver is used alone, and sometimes titanium oxide is also used in combination with silver.
Some metals like zinc and copper are also able to prevent bacterial and fungal growth. Occasionally a combination of copper and zinc is used for coating the surface of the glass. In the upper layer of the glass, these metal ions are produced that in turn interact with bacteria, interfere with their metabolism and division resulting in their disruption.
Those who are involved in manufacturing healthcare furnishings are targeting on development of new products that have antimicrobial properties in order to protect materials from degradation and to reduce the chances of degradation product surfaces due to microbial burden. It is predicted that this will help in reducing the risk of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs)
The outbreak of COVID-19 has shown that several developing as well as developed economies are not able well-equipped that could prevent the spread of the disease. COVID-19 is caused by a coronavirus and is highly infectious which affects the respiratory system. Most of the countries are lacking proper healthcare infrastructure to combat this disease.
In the future to fight with similar kinds of diseases, it is expected that the government of many countries will spend more to increase their healthcare facilities. And these factors will increase the demand for infrastructure products including antibacterial glass.
Due to the need to provide a hygienic architectural solution in various sectors such as healthcare, food, and beverage, military, etc. antimicrobial glasses are nowadays widely used.
As healthcare providers always try to provide the best possible hygienic environment to their patients in the hospitals. According to WHO, more than 10% of patients in developing and around 7% in developed countries who are hospitalized acquire the infection during treatment. Therefore it is mandatory to ensure a higher level of sanitization and hygiene in hospitals to effectively prevent such infections. In hospitals, antibacterial glass is used for making doors, windows, in geriatric oncology, maternity ward, infirmaries, and burn unit where there is a higher risk of getting contaminated by bacteria or fungi.
The demand for antibacterial glass is increasing in the food and beverage industries. It is considered that preventing the growth and spread of microbial germs is a better option than choosing any other alternatives. Food and beverage companies are more focused on consumer safety. To prevent the contamination of the products, these companies are using antibacterial glass.
There is an increasing demand for the use of antibacterial glasses in households in order to prevent bacteria-related diseases. Damp places like bathrooms and washrooms, and kitchens are more susceptible to the growth of bacteria. The increase in disposable income, and rising standard of living of urban population has resulted in more use of antibacterial glass in homecare appliances.
In consumer electronics such as tablets, phones, and phablets, antimicrobial products are used and it expected to encourage the demand of antibacterial glass. This type of glasses are used in the manufacturing of screens of smartphones, tablets, and laptops as bacteria and other microorganisms may be present on the screens of mobile.
As compared with traditional glasses, there are many advantages of using antibacterial glass. It is easier to maintain, is more hygienic, has high sterilization, as well as they have self-cleaning properties under ultraviolet (UV) light. Antibacterial glass is able to kill about 99.9% of bacteria and it also prevents the fungal growth therefore use of antibacterial glasses prevents the spread of infection of many diseases.
The Antibacterial Glass Market has been witnessing rapid growth as awareness is increasing about the infectious diseases among the people. Smart and intelligent architectural ideas can be a crucial factor that will ensure consumer health and safety and will fulfill the new hygiene measures. Especially places like public laboratories, restaurants, offices, railway stations, etc. need to be reconsidered.
Along with this, increasing healthcare spending and better personal and private hygiene practices among the population are the factors that will have a positive impact on the growth of the market. The Global Antibacterial Glass Market has been anticipated to rise at a growth rate of 10% CAGR over the forecast period.
