Factors Governing Adsorption Property and Surface Reactivity of Float Glass

Abstract

Adsorption property and surface reactivity on the top and the bottom faces of float glass were compared, and factors governing these properties were investigated. It was found that both the adsorption property with organic substances and the reactivity with silane coupling reagents were higher on the bottom face compared with the top face. It was also revealed by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) measurements that the difference in these properties was attributed to the density of surface OH group as adsorptive and reactive sites. The high density of surface OH group on the bottom face was explained in terms of the large surface concentration of tin penetrated into the glass during float process. The reason for the surface OH group density dependence on the tin concentration can be explained by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) O1s peak analysis: the SnOH group easily forms as compared with the SiOH group because of the high reactivity with water due to high Lewis basicity. Furthermore, it was found that the surface reactivity of various metal oxide materials was also explainable on the basis of Lewis basicity governing the formation of surface OH group. The analytical results leading to the successful control of the adsorption property and surface reactivity were discussed in detail.