For Science!

[Geminex]

Nice. The "Quantum effects" intrigue me... It has to do something with the “thin layer” aspect… But even assuming it was a monomolecular layer, how would quantum come into play there? I’d have assumed the weak nuclear force at most.
I’m guessing that bacteria would have difficulty surviving on it because it provides no nutrients… Though yeah, eventually we’ll get bacteria that can slip through it, should this become mainstream.
I doubt that, though. It sounds miraculous. Too good to be true. The only question I can come up with now, is “How are you supposed to get it off?”, but I’m sure there’s other downsides to coating the world around you in liquid glass.

Also, does this seem rather like something a James Bond villain would use?
“Now, Mr. Bond… See the glory of my Silicifier!”
“What… is it?”
“Just a little project of mine… It will soon coat the moon in glass, turn it into a giant lens and destroy the earth’s atmosphere… but first, it will do the same to you.”
“You’re insane!”
“I have a VISION!”
“Do you… expect me to talk?”
“No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to do a bad Han Solo impression!”

[Tev]

Originally Posted by Geminex

The only question I can come up with now, is “How are you supposed to get it off?”, but I’m sure there’s other downsides to coating the world around you in liquid glass.

I'm not sure, the article only had this to say about it's longevity:

In the home, spray-on glass would eliminate the need for scrubbing and make most cleaning products obsolete. Since it is available in both water-based and alcohol-based solutions, it can be used in the oven, in bathrooms, tiles, sinks, and almost every other surface in the home, and one spray is said to last a year.
Liquid glass spray is perhaps the most important nanotechnology product to emerge to date. It will be available in DIY stores in Britain soon, with prices starting at around £5 ($8 US). Other outlets, such as many supermarkets, may be unwilling to stock the products because they make enormous profits from cleaning products that need to be replaced regularly, and liquid glass would make virtually all of them obsolete.

[Wigmund]

So when someone falls into a vat of this stuff we'll have an nearly indestructible unholy abomination arise that coats all that it touches in glass - which then either devours its glassed victims or uses them to make more of its kind.