Evaluation of chemical corrosion of tableware glazes by atomic force microscopy

One conventional high-alkaline and three low-alkaline dishwasher detergents were used in a comparative study. A similar set of kitchen utensils (metal s, wood, plastics, glass and whiteware) was simultaneously washed with one of the four detergents for 50 cycles. The visual inspection showed that the low-alkaline detergents were less corrosive but that one of them showed an indication of giving more corrosion than the other two. AFM evaluation cle arly showed that all detergents were corrosive and that a ranking among the three low-alkaline detergents could be made. AFM was shown to be a useful tool in evaluating the chemical corrosion of the tableware glaze in detail. SEM evaluation could not be used to verify the corrosion caused by the low -alkaline detergents.