Patent ID: 8632859

Claim:
A method comprising: applying a transparent coating to a transparent substrate by forming a plurality of transparent coating layers on the transparent substrate, the forming of each transparent coating layer each comprising: dipping the transparent substrate in a solution comprising a porosity-causing polymer component and a metal component, thereby forming on the transparent substrate a coating layer comprising the solution; subjecting the coating layer the porosity-causing polymer component and the metal component to hydrolysis and condensation reactions to form a reaction product including a metal oxide; and applying atmospheric plasma treatment to the coating to induce hardening of the coating layer, to induce condensation in the coating layer, and to remove at least a portion of the porosity-causing polymer component from the reaction product, wherein the porosity-causing polymer component has an average molecular weight of 10,000 to 50,000 Da, the plasma treatment is carried out so that the energy input to the transparent coating is from 50 W/cm 2 to 250 W/cm 2 , and the plasma treatment is performed at a process gas pressure of from 2 bar to 8 bar, using a rotating nozzle.