Micro-ordered periodical modification of glass composition by a staining combined with inkjet printing

Abstract

Silver ions were incorporated into a soda-lime silicate glass substrate by applying 3 M AgNO3-0.1 M polyethylene glycol (PEG) mixed aqueous solution on the glass and heating it at 300°C for 12 h. The glass substrate was colorless after the heat-treatment although the refractive index at the glass surface increased by 0.04. The glass was colored red-brown by the further heat-treatment at 550°C. The energy dispersive X-ray microanalyzer revealed that the silver migrated to around 20 μm in depth. These facts indicate that the AgNO3 solution works as a stain. Since the viscosity of the AgNO3-PEG solution was less than 2 mPa·s, it could be deposited on a glass substrate by the inkjet technique. Dot arrays were formed on the glass substrate by the inkjet deposition. The dots had around 100 μm-diameter kept clear circles and aligned with a hundreds-micrometer frequency. The silver ions were incorporated into the dot areas of the glass surface by the heat-treatment. Then, we demonstrated that a micro-ordered periodical modification in the glass composition was easily formed by the staining using the AgNO3 aqueous solution combined with the inkjet technique.