Hydrolytic durability of silane primed epoxy coatings on silicate glasses

Epoxy resin based coatings can be used to strengthen silicate glasses. For this strength increase to be maintained over time the coatings must be dura ble in water containing environments. The effects of silane coupling agents applied as a primer on the durability of these coatings under accelerated ageing conditions of elevated temperature and high relative humidity are re ported The use of a silane primer is shown to increase the durability of th e coatings. The greatest durabilities were obtained by extracting the silan e with a cold water treatment before the epoxy coating was applied This tre atment removes a weakly bonded silane layer that is susceptible to hydrolyt ic degradation. It is also shown that there is good correlation between lon ger term ageing test data and the accelerated resting.