Technology for the Manufacture of Cathodes Intended for Spraying Bactericidal Coatings on Glass Surfaces

Abstract

The paper presents the course and results of research into the production of cathodes for sputtering bactericidal coatings on glass surfaces in an industrial magnetron line at D.A. Glass. The study included the development of an innovative and comprehensive technology for producing various types of cathodes using a vacuum induction furnace. FactSage software was used for numerical simulations of phase transformations in the liquid and solid phase during the cooling and solidification of alloys, and the liquidus and solidus temperatures were determined using the thermal analysis method (DTA). The cathodes were made by casting plates that are components of ready-made cathodes. Zonal macrosegregation tests were carried out in the plate casting, which showed that the cast plates were characterised by high homogeneity in the entire volume. The chemical compositions of the cathodes corresponded to the required compositions, and their quality met the requirements for installation in a magnetron, which proves the correctness of the developed technologies of their production. The layers on the glass, sputtered in a magnetron device, were subjected to microbiological tests to determine the bactericidal (biocidal) properties of the glass. Preliminary results of these studies showed that the cathodes based on brass and bronze of the following type exhibited the best bactericidal properties: Cu90Sn10, Cu90Zn10, Cu80Zn10Al10, Cu80Ti20 and Cu65Ni18Zn17. The layers produced on the glass with the use of these cathodes exhibited the ability to deactivate the tested strains of microorganisms, including the elimination of bacterial growth. To further improve these properties, the composition of copper-based cathodes with various additions of tin and titanium, and with the addition of the following rare earth elements: cerium and lanthanum, which will be subjected to layer sputtering in the magnetron and microbiological tests as part of the next stages of the project, was modified.