Glass, optical applications manufacturing processes

Depending on spectral region, the correct material must be selected from appropriate catalogues. for example, because cells of glass or polymer are not transparent to UV radiation. The plastic cells often used in routine analysis differ in their optical properties. This holds true for cells from the same batch and from different batches [72]. Because of the manufacturing process used, their interior surfaces are not parallel, so the reproducibility and potential applications of these cells are limited. 

Central Glass developed a combiner of selective reflective special screen applied on the inner surface of windshield for automotive information display system (Hattori, 1989 Makita, 1998). It is the world first example of utilization of sol-gel thin film for car windows. This application proved that the sol-gel film is highly potential as coatings for car windows it cleared extremely severe production standards for cars. Optical design, optical property and manufacturing process is explained in detail in next chapter. 

Ceramic thin films, sensors, nanoscale materials, multi-functional ceramic composites, optical fibers, ceramic membranes and many other products can be manufactured by the sol-gel process [1-3]. The major applications of sol-gel processing are in ceramic industry for fabrication of oxide ceramics and glasses. Several studies have been reported on the preparation of supported catalysts and zeolite granular particles using the sol-gel technique [4-10]. Sol-gel derived inorganic thin films and membranes have recently attracted attentions from both academia and industry [11-13]. Only limited studies have been carried out on the sol-gel fabrication of adsorbents for industrial separation or purification purposes. 

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