Development of organic-inorganic coatings for strength-preserving of glass bottles

An amino-epoxy-silane based coating system (GAMAL) for glass surfaces was developed, which can efficiently protect bottles from the damages of a bottling plant. Testing bottles with a ramp pressure tester show an identical value of about (40±4) bar for conventionally hot- and cold-end coated bottles and bottles coated with the developed organic-inorganic composite (GAMAL) system. After already 2 min of wet line-simulation testing, all species of a conventionally coated probe fall short of the critical limit of 16 bar, whereas bottles coated with GAMAL (thickness about 7 μm) show a value of (21±3) bar. Coating is possible by dip and spray application on cold or hot (80°C) substrates, the coating is cured at 120°C for 5 to 10 min. Additional functions such as colour or UV protection can be added easily, without reduction of the protection potential. The low content of carbon (about 0.5 g per 1l soft drink bottle) should not disturb the recycling process of such coated bottles.