Optical and Mechanical Characterization of Zirconium Based Sol-Gel Coatings on Glass

The basic factor limiting the use of glasses is their unsatisfactory mechanical strength. The improvement of the mechanical strength of glasses is usually obtained by applying their respective thin surface layers. The object of the research was glass coated with zirconium oxide. For the application of zirconium oxide layer, dip-coating method was used. The resulting materials were subjected to detailed examination of the microstructure (SEM), and mechanical tests (Vickers hardness and modulus of elasticity). In order to evaluate the optical characteristics, the tests were performed by UV/VIS. The thickness of the overlying layers were determined using the method of ellipsometry. The study showed that the obtained sol-gel layer of zirconium oxide (IV) on glasses influence the improvement of the mechanical properties. It has been shown that the applied layers have high adhesion to the substrate.