7. Summary and conclusions

Between the infinite variety of compositions, enabling glass to be adapted to the applications likely to exploit its basic characteristics, the mastery of glass surface and layer deposition, the beginning of an industrial approach to the volume structuring of glass itself, the realization of the first truly hybrid materials and the production of complex products in which glass is an essential component, the future of this material seems well assured.

Substantial fundamental research is still essential, to better understand what an amorphous material is, what happens on its surface, how to predict its properties by molecular dynamics, how to create hybrid materials, how to structure its volume in a controlled way, and so on.

In conclusion, the following points can be made:

• Glass, one of the...