UV‐LED Glass Laminates for Disinfection: Simulation‐Assisted Design and Optimization

Structural electronics is an emerging field of technology in the electronics industry. As a result of technological development, electrical functionality can be hermetically embedded into various structural elements including smart glass laminates. Such glass laminates with LEDs can be utilized in the food industry for disinfection purposes, as ultraviolet light has an antimicrobial influence. Design and fabrication process optimization of structural glass elements is very demanding due to the lack of established design rules and limited experience in fabrication. To overcome this problem, a digital model was designed, and system‐level multiphysics simulations were conducted. In this study, we focus on the electro‐optical functionality of glass laminate, combining ray trace simulations with spectrum analyzer measurements to analyze light‐induced disinfection characteristics of the glass element. Based on experimental verification, the simulation model gives reasonably accurate results to predict the functional performance of the glass element. The obtained results suggest that the concept of LED glass laminate is feasible and produces an irradiance profile suitable for disinfection.