Influence of silver and potassium ion exchange on physical and mechanical properties of soda lime glass

•AgNO3–KNO3 ion exchange was realized on commercial soda lime glass for varying temperature and time.•After the ion exchange treatment, presence of silver and potassium in the glass was confirmed by EDS analysis.•The hydrophilicity of the glass increased, so the wettability of the glass surface was reduced after ion exchange.•The Vickers hardness and indentation crack formation resistance of the treated glasses showed considerable increase.•Scratch resistance became severely higher and 3.5–4 times higher bending strength was obtained after ion exchange.

This study aims to investigate the ion exchanged soda lime glasses in terms of their physical and mechanical properties. By the motivation of preparing mechanically strengthened glass also representing antimicrobial property, commercial soda lime glass was subjected to ion exchange treatment using AgNO3KNO3 mixed salt bath. Ion exchange treatment was performed using different salt bath concentrations at varying temperatures and time. After the ion exchange treatment, glass samples were examined by considering the amount of incorporated silver and potassium into the glass, density changes and the variation of the transmittance in the visible region. Treated glasses were further investigated by means of their surface and mechanical properties such as wettability, indentation behaviors including hardness and resistance to indentation cracking, scratch resistance and bending strength. The transmission of the treated glasses showed a decrease due to the coloring effect of silver. Wettability of the glass surface was reduced, while hydrophilicity was decreased after the ion exchange treatment. Almost 20% increase in the Vickers hardness values, substantial enhancement in the indentation crack resistance and scratch resistance as well as averagely 3.5–4 times higher bending strength were achieved for all of the treated glass samples compared to the untreated glass. This study addressed that the simultaneous incorporation of silver and potassium provided significant improvements on the mechanical properties of the soda lime glass.