Address:
Glafo, PG Vejdes väg 15,
SE-351 96 Växjö
SWEDEN

Visitor's address:
Vejdes plats 3

Tel: +46 10 516 63 50
E-mail: info@glafo.se

You find a map at the
"about Glafo" page.

SURFACE ANALYSIS METHODS FOR DISHWASHED GLASS


The aim is to use surface sensitive methods to study the chemical composition and structure of glass surfaces washed up in dishwashers.

Background
When glass is washed up in a dishwasher, it is attacked in the alkaline environment through leaching of compounds from the surface and disruption of the glass structure. The first visible result is a weakly iridescent layer on the surface, followed by an increasing haze and milkiness due to the formation of pits. Owing to developments in glass composition, the best glasses can resist up to 2000 dishwashing cycles with traditional phosphate containing detergents without any visible effect in normal use.

However, because of the more stringent environmental requirements today, efforts are made to remove phosphates from dishwasher detergents. Dishwashing up tests at Glafo in recent years have shown that dishwasher detergents with a lower phosphate content often give rise to adherent deposits on the glass. What happens on the glass surface may be a combination of traditional dishwashing attack with pitting of the surface and deposits of low solubility. In order to develop glass and phosphate-free detergents into functioning combinations, it is necessary for these thin deposits to be analysed and studied.

SEM photograph of deposit on a surface washed up 750 times with a low phosphate detergent.

Planned work
We will investigate dishwashed glass surfaces with a number of different analysis methods.

Different glass types and detergent types will be compared to try to understand why deposits and attacks on surfaces occur.

CURRENT PROJECTS