Crack bridging mechanism for glass strengthening by organosilane water-based coatings

We used an epoxysilane/aminosilane coating deposited from an aqueous solution to strengthen flat glass. We studied film formation, interfacial and mechanical properties of the film. The film is highly cross-linked with a 6 GPa Young's modulus and good adhesion. Our results suggest that crack face bridging accounts for most of the 75% reinforcement in this system.