Abstract:
Since its discovery thousands of years ago, glass has been used by humans for all manner of purposes. Glass possesses a unique set of material properties, from its transparency to its deceptive physical strength. Glass is inert to most chemicals, making it the perfect material to store everything from food to sensitive compounds such as vaccinations and medicines. Glass is very strong, at least theoretically, and advances are constantly being made to improve this strength. Eventually, the potential exists for glass to surpass materials like steel in terms of toughness and durability. Glass is also an electrical insulator and responds negligibly to magnetic fields, making it a good substrate for printed circuits and other microelectronic applications. However, glass' most useful properties are its optical properties. There is no other material that exhibits glass' transparency while also being rigid, durable, and shapeable. Not only is glass transparent, but it can also be nearly any color. The opacity and reflectivity can also be selectively altered by coatings or changes to the composition. This thesis looks at one way of manipulating these properties: the photochromic effect.
