Development of hydrophilic outside mirror coated with titania photocatalyst

A new outside mirror which enhances rearward visibility on a rainy day has been developed using a TiO2-SiO2 coating on the glass base. Prepared by the sol-gel process, the coating spreads out rain droplets on the mirror surface into a thin film of water by a photocatalytic hydrophilic effect in the TiO2-SiO2. This mirror maintains its good hydrophilicity for a long time, and when hydrophobic contaminations collect on the glass surface, the sun's radiation induces a photocatalytic effect that serves to decompose the contaminations. Furthermore, the new mirror has sufficiently high durability for use in the severe automotive environment. (C) 2000 Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan, Inc. and Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.