Transfer films, articles made therewith, and methods of making and using transfer films that include antireflective structures are disclosed.

A transparent glass or ceramic or glass-ceramic substrate, coated with a functional layer or with a stack of at least two functional layers, the functional layer or at least one of the functional layers of the stack being porous and made of an inorganic material M1, wherein the or at least one of the porous functional layer(s) of inorganic material M1 has, at the surface of at least one portion of the pores thereof, at least one inorganic material M2 different from M1.

Embodiments of an article including a substrate and a patterned coating are provided. In one or more embodiments, when a strain is applied to the article, the article exhibits a failure strain of 0.5% or greater. Patterned coating may include a particulate coating or may include a discontinuous coating. The patterned coating of some embodiments may cover about 20% to about 75% of the surface area of the substrate. Methods for forming such articles are also provided.

Described is in particular a method of heat treatment of a material layer (102) of a material sandwich (100) comprising the material layer (102) and a substrate (104), wherein the substrate (104) comprises a silicon-oxygen compound and the material layer (102) comprises a silicon-oxygen compound, the method comprising irradiating the material layer (102) with a pulsed laser beam (114) of a carbon dioxide laser (112). According to an embodiment the irradiating is performed so as to selectively heat the material layer (102) and a substrate portion (116) of the substrate (104), wherein the substrate portion (116) faces (e.g. contacts) the material layer (102).

Various embodiments provide an article including a substrate and a coating thereon including a functionalized fluorine containing compound crosslinked with a multifunctional siloxane resin. A method of forming the article includes applying a multifunctional siloxane resin to a substrate, applying a functionalized fluorine containing compound to the substrate, and annealing the multifunctional siloxane resin and the functionalized fluorine containing compound.

A method for preparation of a self-cleaning coating solution is provided. The method comprises mixing an aluminium compound with a solution of an ethanol compound to form a solution. Further, the formed solution is subjected to a first magnetic stirring. After the first magnetic stirring a first transparent solution is formed. Further, a stabilizing agent is added to the first transparent solution of the aluminium compound and the ethanol compound. Subsequent to adding the stabilizing agent a translucent solution is formed. Finally, the formed translucent solution is subjected to a second magnetic stirring for forming a homogeneous second transparent solution. The formed second transparent solution is a coating solution

Embodiments of a scratch-resistant and optically transparent material comprising silicon, aluminum, nitrogen, and optionally oxygen are disclosed. In one or more embodiments, the material exhibits an extinction coefficient (k) at a wavelength of 400 nm of less than about 1×10.sup.−3, and an average transmittance of about 80% or greater, over an optical wavelength regime in the range from about 380 nm to about 780 nm, as measured through the material having a thickness of about 0.4 micrometer. In one or more embodiments, the material comprises an intrinsic maximum hardness of about 12 GPa or greater as measured on a major surface of the material having a thickness of about 400 by a Berkovich Indenter Hardness Test along an indentation depth of about 100 nm or greater, low compressive stress and low roughness (Ra). Articles and devices incorporating the material are also disclosed.

A glass frit for forming a black enamel coating includes Si at 6.5 mol % to 6.9 mol %, B at 9.0 mol % to 9.3 mol %, Bi at 13.0 mol % to 13.4 mol %, Zn at 6.0 mol % to 6.3 mol %, and Al at 1.5 mol % to 2.0 mol %, and Co, Ni, and Fe, wherein a total amount of Co, Ni, and Fe is 2.9 mol % to 3.5 mol % of the glass frit in a molar ratio.

Black-coloured article (1) which is not a photovoltaic device, comprising:—a substantially transparent substrate (3);—a substantially transparent textured layer (5) provided upon a first surface (3a) of said substrate, said textured layer (5) having a textured surface (5a) oriented away from said substrate (3);—an absorption layer (7) comprising silicon-germanium alloy, said absorption layer (7) being situated upon said textured surface (5a) of said textured layer (5).

The present invention discloses a glazing characterized through a high hemispherical light transmission together with an enhanced tuneable light diffusion, what we hereby call a highly transmitting glazing with optimized Hortiscatter. The glazing of the invention is particularly well suitable for a greenhouse. The invention is a global approach which allows to propose different glazing which can be utilized depending on the type of crop and the geographical zone, providing optimized Hortiscatter on demand