Chinese scientists have developed a super-thin glass just 0.12 millimeters thick, or thinner than two pieces of printer paper.
The glass, manufactured by the Bengbu Glass Industry Design Institute of the China National Building Material Group Co. Ltd., is the world's thinnest glass in mass production by float process.
Cao Xin, a leading researcher, tested the glass by dropping a steel ball of 55 grams onto it from a meter above. That impact was equivalent to the force of a car running at 150 kilometers per hour.
The glass remained intact.
Super-thin glass is a core material in the electronic display industry, and can be used in display screens for mobile phones, computers and televisions. The thinner the glass, the better its transparency and flexibility, and the lighter its weight. But the glass would become fragile if it were too thin.
Making it both thin and tough was a challenge. Chinese scientists spent more than 30 years developing the super-thin glass. Their breakthrough prompted the price of super-thin glass to plunge by more than 66 percent on the international market.
Now Cao is aiming to develop glass just 0.1 millimeter thick.
