TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Method: The method involves mixing glycydoxypropyltrimethoxysilane with at least a first solvent, first catalyst, water and colloidal silica to form silica sol; mixing titanium tetraisobutoxide with at least a second solvent, first catalyst and water to form titania sol; mixing the sols either before or concurrently with the formation of the silica sol and the titania sol; casting the mixture by spin coating to form coating on substrate (preferably plastic substrate, or glass substrate containing float glass); and curing and heat treating the coating on the substrate to form low-index hydrophilic layer on the substrate; where following heat treating, sessile drop of water in contact with the layer exhibits contact angle less than or equal to 25 degrees . Preferred Components: The silica sol and titania sol are present in the mixture in a weight ratio of 90:10 and 80:20. The titanium tetraisobutoxide comprises the mixture (0.01-5, preferably 0.25-1 wt.%) of titanium sol and silica sol. The substrate comprises soda lime glass. The contact angle is less than or equal to 20 (preferably less than or equal to 15, particularly less than or equal to 10) degrees .    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Components: The first solvent and second solvent comprise n-propanol. The first catalyst and second catalyst comprise hydrochloric acid. EXAMPLE - A polymeric component of silica, comprising (wt.%): n-propanol (64), glycydoxylpropyltrimethoxysilane (24), water (7) and hydrochloric acid (5) was prepared. These ingredients were mixed for 24 hours. The coating solution was prepared by using (wt.%): the polymeric solution (21), colloidal silica (7) in methyl ethyl ketone, and n-propanol (72); and stirred for 2 hours to obtain a silica sol. A titania sol was prepared by mixing (wt.%): n-propanol (93.49), titanium tetraisobutoxide (5.6), water (0.44), and hydrochloric acid (0.44) for 4 hours. The silica sol (80.33 wt.%) and titania sol (19.67 wt.%) coating was fabricated using spin coating method with 1000 rotation per minute (rpm) for 18 seconds. The coating was heat treated in furnace at 625 degrees C for 3.5 minutes. The optical average transmission in the range of 300-1200 nm wavelength was 1.85% transmission gain with average contact angle of 5.47 degrees .