# Coverable Self‐Cleaning Glass via Abnormal Transport and Jump of Charged Particles

## TL;DR

A new self-cleaning glass uses charged particles and electric fields to quickly and sustainably remove dirt without water.

## Contribution

The discovery of abnormal transport and jump behaviors of charged particles enables a novel, fast self-cleaning glass.

## Key findings

- Charged particles exhibit abnormal reverse lateral transport and jump behaviors under electric fields.
- A transparent self-cleaning glass with 0.62 mm thickness can clean 97.79 g/m² of particles in 10 seconds.
- The glass can be applied to various surfaces without affecting their function and enables water-free cleaning.

## Abstract

Surface particle pollution is present everywhere, from windows in daily life to transparent curtain walls in tall buildings and photovoltaic panels in deserts. Cleaning these particles takes a lot of labor and costs, highlighting a method for dealing with surface particle pollution that is facile, fast, and sustainable. Here, the abnormal reverse lateral transport behavior of charged particles is reported, the mechanism of abnormal transport and jump behaviors is revealed of charged particles, and the phase diagram of the influence of electric field and particle size on these two behaviors is established. Based on this discovery, a transparent and simple self‐cleaning glass driven by the electric field is developed, with a thickness of only 0.62 mm, which can achieve a sustainable surface self‐cleaning function when facing organic and inorganic particles. Its cleaning time is ultra‐fast, and 97.79 g m−2 particles can be cleaned in 10 s. The self‐cleaning glass can be easily covered to any object surface to achieve self‐cleaning and does not affect the function of the object surface, opening a door for no water consumption, facile, fast, and sustainable self‐cleaning of various surfaces.

The abnormal reverse lateral transport behavior of charged particles is reported. The mechanism of transport and jump behaviors of charged particles is revealed. Furthermore, a transparent and simple self‐cleaning glass driven by the electric field is developed. This study provides the possibility for efficient surface self‐cleaning and opens up new opportunities for directional transport, separation, in situ utilization of particles.