This glass bends like plastic but is eight times harder—it’s harder than tooth enamel but softer than quartz. As thin as a piece of paper, this lightweight glass can be used as a laminate for surfaces such as wood, metal, or tough plastic. It’s very smooth and flexible, though it only bends one way and cannot bend three-dimensionally.

Optically clear, this glass transmits over 90% of visible light. Because it doesn’t have pores, it can be used as a barrier to protect sensitive materials against moisture, oxygen, and stains. Changes in temperature won’t affect the size of this glass. It’s easy to sanitize, as it can withstand commercial cleaners, such as bleach and ammonia. The scratch resistance of this glass is better than that of metal, plastic, and soda-lime glass.

Often seen on mobile devices, human-machine interfaces, and other frequently touched surfaces, this aluminosilicate glass has been chemically strengthened and treated to resist bacteria, mold, mildew, algae, and fungi. Gorilla® Glass 3 is harder and stiffer than borosilicate. It’s at least three times more resistant to scratching than standard aluminosilicate glass, often found as thermometer tubes, and significantly more so than most common glass. And it requires 150 times more weight to crack this glass than soda-lime glass, which is what most jars are made of. But because of how this glass is strengthened, it cannot be cut or trimmed without cracking or shattering.

While this glass doesn’t prevent the spread of viruses, its antimicrobial treatment does prevent the growth of 99.9% of bacteria. This treatment doesn’t change its clarity, unlike most coatings used to prevent bacteria on glass, so it remains optically clear and won’t distort objects.