A mirror-like glass: Electroplating
Electroplating stemless wine glass
Other than the fact that glass is widely used in our lives and practically everywhere, it is also a common element in the artifact industry, especially those mirror-like glasses whose surface is reflective of light and show your image. Usually, when regular glasses (the ones you see in local supermarkets) are made, they are not reflective though light travels through the body of their transparent nature. So how are mirrors made? This credit goes to a German chemist, Justus von Liebig, who in 1835 created a wet deposition process involving the chemical reduction of silver nitrate that eventually formed a thin layer of silver onto the glass. As the related technology in glass production became sophisticated, today we are able to make a transparent glass bottle that is reflective.
But what does this have anything to do with electroplating? That thin layer of silver mentioned above is a key component in the production process, except today it is turned into a handy form of spray paint that acts as the base layer of glass before applying the color layer paint. The glassware is then immersed into a final layer of gloss oil to enhance the surface’s brightness. The final step of the process is baking the glassware in an oven around 180℃-200℃ so the layers of paint are strongly adhesive. An alternative method to the spray-painting method is the dustless vacuum method. Using the same paint in a vacuum room and with a little help from the electric field, the paint vaporizes in scorch heat and will stick to the glassware surface. The successful key to this method is the glassware must be absolutely clean and without a slight hint of static electricity that brings the dust particles in.