Defects of Golden and Luster Decorations on Glass

Decoration of glass by a thin layer of golden or luster solutions demands a high quality of the glass surface, decorating solutions, as well as technological procedure. In the presented work the authors monitored causes of defect formation for two types of luster decorations and two types of commercial glass gilding preparations with various Ag contents. The results have shown that in case of an unsuitable technological process the layers on the glass demonstrate insufficient adhesion, colors different from the required shade or matt spots. The resistance of golden decorations against damage was further tested by washing of decorated samples in a dishwasher. In case of alkaline washing the decorations were more resistant on sodium-potassium glass and on a previously dealkalised glass surface. A high durability against washing was found for the golden decoration with high Ag content. The quality of layers was investigated with a spectrophotometer, optical microscope and SEM and compositions of the original and decorated glasses were determined with RTG-F and SEM/EDS analyses.