Surface modification of a sodium aluminosilicate glass using a slurry ion-exchange was performed. This was conducted in both a conventional furnace and microwave oven to draw parallels between the two processing methods. Exchange of a larger potassium ion for a smaller sodium ion in the glass was investigated. Microhardness measurements, Fourier Transform Infrared Reflection Spectroscopy (FT-IRRS), and Electron microscope analysis (EMPA) were performed to evalaute the effect of microwave radiation on the ion exchanged glass. Results showed an increase of hardness of the glass samples treated using microwave energy when compared to conventionaly processed samples. From the FT-IRRS analysis, microwave ion exchanged samples exhibited very minor spectra difference as compared to the as-received, annealed, and conventionally ion exchange processed glasses. However, EMPA-revealed a much larger depth of surface alteration for the microwave ion exchanged glass.
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