Vol. 38, Issue 1, pp. 217-223 (2008)

Abstract

Glassy enamels are characterized by high chemical durability. Their chemical resistance properties, however, differ from those observed for conventional oxide glasses. This is because of their specific chemical composition and microstructure determined by enamel technology. In longer periods of exploitation in corroding conditions glassy coatings deteriorate continuously, the most significant changes taking place in the near-surface region. The main goal of this work was to establish the influence of chemical corrosion on spectral properties of glassy coatings. Changes in microstructure, gloss and reflectance were studied using electron microscopy and reflectance spectroscopy. It was confirmed that enamels based on pigments have higher durability than enamels coloured by ion dyes.