Problems with the analysis of glass and glass ceramic surfaces and coatings

Summary The investigation of the composition of the surfaces and the spatial distributions of elements and phases within subsurface layers on glasses, coatings and interfacial layers is a most important, necessary requirement to understand and to control chemical interactions between glass and glass ceramic surfaces and adjacent materials. In general, this necessary requirement can be met only by using simultaneously a couple of surface analysis methods and the analytical electron microscopy. The application of single analysis methods can be sufficient, however, if basic results are available on the physics and chemistry of glasses to complement them in order to obtain the necessary information.Data are scarce on the free enthalpies of formation for non-crystalline materials, and, therefore, data on the free enthalpies of reaction cannot be calculated for the reactions with adjacent materials. Therefore, it is important to apply and to further develop methods to obtain data on the structures and microstructures of the crystalline and non-crystalline subsurface layer and coating materials, too. These data allow correlation of the differences in these structures with differences of the driving forces of the surface material reactions observed with adjacent phases and their reaction kinetics for the non-crystalline materials, too. Problems also arise with regard to the application of surface analysis methods, because changes of the spatial element distributions can be induced by a transfer of charge and energy to the surface during analysis. Furthermore, surface analysis methods must be improved to allow in-situ analysis.

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Analytische Probleme zu Glas- und Glaskeramik-Oberflächen und -Beschichtungen