Borosilicate Glass Sheet UK: The Beneficial Properties of Borosilicate Glass Substrates

The borosilicate glass sheet UK coating specialists Diamond Coatings offer as a substrate for diverse ITO and other coatings offers properties beneficial to numerous industries’ applications. Here is what these properties and applications are…

Borosilicate Glass Sheet UK

A colourless, clear low soda glass, borosilicate glass consists primarily of silica, boric oxide, sodium oxide, potassium oxide and calcium oxide (70%, 10%, 8%, 8% and 1% respectively). It is produced by melting these components together. As the transition temperature of these materials ranges up to 560° C, the melting process requires significantly higher temperatures than those necessary to make traditional glass.

While this makes borosilicate glass somewhat more difficult and consequently slightly more expensive to produce, its superior durability and properties serve to still make it an economical choice both in terms of production and use.

Borosilicate Glass Properties

Boasting a low thermal expansion coefficient of 3.2 x 10-6 1/K, Knoop hardness (at 20° C) of 400 – 480, and a 2650 – 27000 MPa Shear modulus, borosilicate glass not only maintains its integrity when exposed to thermal shocks that would cause other types of glass to deform or warp but is also able to withstand blunt force impacts better than other glass types.

Highly resistant to acid mixtures, acid & neutral solutions and concentrated acids; chlorine, iodine and bromine; water and organic substances, it also has superior chemical resistance to most metals and other materials even when exposed for prolonged periods at temperatures greater than 100° C.

Then, of course, there are its optical properties: borosilicate is a so-called crown glass with negligible absorption in the spectral (approximately 310nm to 2,200nm) range, low dispersion and comparatively low refractive indices (1.51 to 1.54) across the range of visible light.

Borosilicate Glass Applications

Combining these properties with premium-quality indium tin oxide coatings makes borosilicate glass the perfect choice for applications including, to name just a few:

• Circuit Substrates
• Display Technology (i.e. varying industries’ critical display equipment, TFT flat screens, etc.)
• Microscope Slides/Cover Slips
• Mobile Communications Antennas
• Transparent Electrodes
• Transparent EMC/EMI/RFI Shielding

DC Borosilicate Glass Options

We can provide borosilicate glass sheets (and indeed all our glass substrates):

• Fully dimensioned
• Chemically or/and thermally toughened
• With radius, chamfers (profiled), holes and/or cut-outs
• Polished to match the specific optical and/or flatness requirements of customers
• With ITO, anti-reflective and/or anti-glare coatings
• With printed graphics and/or borders

To learn more about our coating options for borosilicate/other substrates and/or to discuss any specific requirements for your application, please get in touch with our technical experts, who will be happy to advise and assist you.