Corrosion behaviour of tin dioxide based electrode material at high temperature in molten soda-lime–silicate glass

Abstract Tin dioxide (SnO2) based ceramics are used to form ceramic electrodes used in glass melting techniques. In this paper, MnO2-doped SnO2-based ceramics were prepared by pressureless sintering, and the evolution of the microstructure of SnO2-based ceramics in molten glass liquid was studied by SEM, EPMA and EDX. The thin boundary phase has corrosion resistance to glass liquid at high temperatures. However, the thick intergranular layer is very easily attacked by glass liquid through the dissolution mechanism. Furthermore, the corrosion of SnO2 grains should be controlled by the diffusion process. Based on our results, a schematic diagram illustrating the corrosion behaviour of SnO2 based ceramics in molten soda-lime–silicate glass liquid is presented.