Transparent composites

I was intrigued when I ran across Patently Apple’s posting, “Apple Exploring new Transparent Fiber Composite Materials for Future Devices Including Wearable Computers”.  The site relates that Apple Inc. (Cupertino, Calif., USA) has been experimenting with composites since 2007, and has now invented a method for manufacturing relatively transparent fiber reinforced plastic structures.

Interestingly, Mo-Sci Corp. (Rolla, Mo., USA) received a 2007 SBIR research funding award for “High-Strength and Optically Transparent Fiber-Reinforced Composites”, which describes “a need for mechanically strong composite materials of high optical quality and transparency equivalent to window glass” and achieving this “by layering a polymer matrix reinforced with glass ribbons (micron-size glass fibers with rectangular cross section) and a tough compliant polyurethane film.” Apparently Mo-Sci had already licensed technology from U.S. Patent

READ MORE : http://www.compositesworld.com/blog/post/transparent-composites