Silver diffusion and coloration of soda lime and borosilicate glasses, Part 1: Effect on the transmission and coloration of stained glasses

Using the conventional method of coloration, soda lime and borosilicate glasses have been painted. Once stained, these glasses were heat treated at temperatures close to their transition temperatures (Tg). A parametric study was carried out in order to determine at first the effect of the silver concentration in the stain spread on glass. In addition, it was studied the effect of the heat treatment duration and the chemical composition of the painted glasses on the formation and size of the silver nanoparticles, the silver diffusion depth and also the glasses coloration. The characterization was made using UV-Vis spectroscopy, Raman confocal spectroscopy, SEM, EDX Technique and Abbe Refractometer. The obtained results shows that the coloration intensity of both glass types painted by the conventional method differs and depends essentially on the proportion of alkali ions in the glass. Moreover, it was found that the effect of the silver concentration in the stain is primordial and the heat treatment duration has a limited effect.