The SPUR is excited to have Alchemy in it’s new cutting edge Research and Development facility for its revolutionary nanotechnology. With it’s new world class wet and dry labs, Alchemy will continue the development of revolutionary products like it’s nanotech protective films that make windshields five to six times stronger.
Alchemy New Facility Front Office
“ExoShield” is designed to protect windshields from rocks and other debris. This lightweight advancement can save car windshield replacements, prevent 20kg of greenhouse gas from being emitted, and block up to 99.9% of harmful UV rays. The ultimate goal is to provide a lasting car safety feature. This nanotech design can be further developed and applied to cameras, other sensors and potentially replace glass all together.
Mclaren 600LT with Exoshield Protective Film
Chong Shen and Khanjan Desai, are two nanotechnology engineering graduates from Ontario’s University of Waterloo and co founders of Neverfrost / Alchemy.
Desai started Alchemy with co-founder Chong Shen as part of a fourth-year design project at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario. Desai and Shen both studied nanotechnology engineering. The two students initially created a passive coating under the name Neverfrost, which prevented frost on windshields, but realized the coating needed to be more durable for automotive applications.
PET can be applied on many brittle materials to increase impact resistance because it can absorb and distribute the impact energy when something strikes that object. In addition, it has really high optical qualities, which is necessary for an automotive application.
PET can also be stretched — a characteristic that prevents ExoShield from looking wrinkled and creased.
When you’re working with the complex curvature of the windshield where you have curvature from both top to bottom and side to side, you need to be able to selectively sort of shrink the film, so that a flat film can turn into this complex curvature, adding that the film can be heated in select areas to avoid creases during the installation process.
ExoShield launched in the United States and Canada in August 2017. The product is currently available at 85 dealers — usually businesses that do window tinting, detailing, etc. — across the two countries and in 25 major cities.
For more information about this revolutionary and exciting nanotech company please visit the Alchemy website.
