Protective coating of float glass by liquid anti- corrosion systems

The surface of freshly produced float glass is very reactive. While storing or transporting the glass it can react with humidity which penetrates the space between the glass plates resulting in a strong adhering staining. Depending on the degree of the glass corrosion a further processing of the glass is impossible. The degree of corrosion depends on humidity, temperature, storage – and transport conditions and the glass quality. Initial stages of glass corrosion are often recognised not until the glass is further processed (e.g. by thin film coating, silvering, tempering). Weathering tests were performed under laboratory and real storage conditions with glasses which were halfcoated on the airside with a liquid anti-stain product. Both test conditions produced no visible signs of corrosion. The glasses were then thin film coated and characterised by different physical methods. For the glasses treated in the climate change chamber the protected glass parts led to a standard quality coating whereas the nonprotected parts showed an increasing deviation from standard quality depending on the test duration. For the glasses stored under real conditions an influence of the antistain coating could be demonstrated under more critical test conditions.