Enhancement of optical and mechanical properties of silica coatings deposited on sandblasted glass

An optimization of the SiO2 concentration in a sol-gel coating prepared using TEOS and MTES as silica alcoxide and mixing with a Colloidal silica suspension (Ludox 40 %), of sandblasted (200 g) etched with hydrofluoric acid (5 %) soda-lime glass, is leading to crack-free films with a thickness of 3.5 μm in a single dip and 5 μm in two dips. This represents a significant improvement if compared to previous similar works. In addition we are achieving through this coating, an improvement of the transmittance, from 64.65 % to 86 %, an arithmetic roughness decreasing from 2.8 μm to 0.56 μm and the bending strength is nearly multiplied by four.