TECHNICAL NOTE

APPLICATION
KNOWLEDGE

Laboratory Glass
Chemical and mechanical resistance

Working with glass

Introduction
Glass has very good chemical When working with glass, it is essential to consider its limitations regarding resis-
resistance against water, saline tance to thermal shock and to mechanical stress. Strict safety measures must be
solutions, acids, alkalis and or- observed:
ganic solvents and in this respect
surpasses the majority of plastics. + Do not heat volumetric instruments, measuring cylinders and flasks on hot
It is only attacked by hydrofluoric plates.
acid, and – at elevated tempera- + Exothermic reactions such as diluting sulfuric acid or dissolving solid alkaline
tures – by strong alkalis and con- hydroxides must always be carried out while stirring and cooling the reagents,
centrated phosphoric acid. Further and in suitable vessels such as Erlenmeyer flasks – never in graduated cylin-
advantages of glass are its dimen- ders or volumetric flasks!
sional stability, even at elevated + Glass instruments must never be exposed to sudden temperature changes.
temperatures, and its high trans- When taking them out of a drying cabinet while hot, never place on a cold or
parency. wet lab bench.
+ For compressive loads, only glass instruments intended for this purpose may
be used. For example, filtering flasks and desiccators may be evacuated only
after confirming that they are in perfect condition. BRAND does not offer in-
struments for pressure applications.

Specific properties of individual glasses

Soda-lime glass (e.g., AR-GLAS®) has Borosilicate glass (Boro 3.3, Boro 5.4) has very good chemical and physical
good chemical and physical properties. properties. The abbreviation Boro 3.3 stands for a borosilicate glass type 3.3 as
It is suitable for products which are usu- specified in international standard DIN ISO 3585, for applications requiring very
ally subjected to short-term chemical good chemical and thermal resistance (including resistance to thermal shock),
exposure, and to limited thermal stress and high mechanical stability. Typical applications are components for chemical
(e.g., pipettes, culture tubes). apparatus, round-bottom flasks, and beakers.

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TECHNICAL NOTE

Chemical Resistance
Chemical interaction of glass with water Chemical interaction of glass with alkalis
and acids

The chemical interaction of water and acids with glass surfaces Alkalis attack glass surfaces as concentration and tempera-
is negligibly small; only very small amounts, primarily mon- tures increase. Borosilicate glass 3.3 (Boro 3.3) limits surface
ovalent ions, are dissolved from the glass. This forms a very erosion to the µm range; however, after prolonged exposure,
thin, almost non-porous layer of silica gel on the glass surface, volume changes and/or graduation destruction may occur.
inhibiting further attack. Exceptions are hydrofluoric acid and
hot phosphoric acid which prevent the formation of the inert
layer.

0.03 8

HCl

0.02

0.03 4
mg Na2O/g glass grain

c (NaOH) = 1 mol/l

layer attack (µm)

0.02 0.01
layer attack (µm)

Temperature: 100 °C time: 1 h

Time: 16 h temperature: 100°C
0.01

0 3 6 0 4 8 12 0 3 6
time (h) normality of the acids time (h)

Hydrolytic attack on Boro 3.3 Acid attack on Boro 3.3 Alkali attack on Boro 3.3
as a function of time as a function of acid concentration as a function of time

Hydrolytic resistance of glass grains Acid resistance Alkali resistance

Borosilicate glass 3.3 meets hydrolytic Borosilicate glass 3.3 meets class 1 of Borosilicate glass 3.3 meets class 2 of
resistance class 1 of DIN ISO 719 (98 °C), DIN 12 116, which is divided into 4 acid DIN ISO 695, which is divided in 3 alkali
which is divided into 5 hydrolytical re- resistance classes. Borosilicate glass is resistance classes. Surface erosion af-
sistance classes. This means that when also called acid-resistant borosilicate ter 3 hours of boiling in a mixture with
glass grain with a granulation rate of glass, as the surface erosion after 6 equal volumes of sodium hydroxide
300-500 µm is exposed to water at 98 °C hours of boiling in 6 N HCl is less than solution (1 mol/l) and sodium carbonate
for 1 hour, less than 31 µg Na2O per gram 0.7 mg/100 cm2. Removal of alkali oxide solution (0.5 mol/l) is approximately
of glass grain will be removed. according to DIN ISO 1776 is less than 134 mg/100 cm2.
In addition, Borosilicate glass 3.3 also 100 µg Na2O/100 cm2.
meets class 1 of DIN ISO 720 (121 °C),
which is divided into 3 hydrolytical re-
sistance classes. This means that when
glass grain is exposed to water at 121 °C
for 1 hour, less than 62 µg Na2O per gram
of glass grain will be removed.

Chemical resistance Water DIN ISO 719 Acids DIN 12 116 Alkalis DIN ISO 695
to (HGB Class 1-5) (Class 1-4) (Class 1-3)

Soda-lime glass (AR-GLAS®) 3 1 2

Borosilicate glass 3.3 (Boro 3.3) 1 1 2

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TECHNICAL NOTE

Mechanical Resistance
Thermal stresses Resistance to temperature changes

During the production and processing of glass, hazardous ther- When glass is heated to a temperature below the lower anneal-
mal stresses may be introduced. During the cooling of molten ing point, thermal expansion and the poor thermal conductiv-
glass, the transition from the plastic state to the brittle state ity result in tensile and compressive stress. If, due to improper
takes place in the range between the upper and lower anneal- heating or cooling rates, the permissible mechanical strength
ing points. At this stage, existing thermal stress must be elimi- is exceeded, breakage occurs. Apart from the coefficient of ex-
nated through a carefully controlled annealing process. Once pansion α, which varies with each kind of glass, the wall thick-
the lower annealing point is reached, the glass may be cooled ness, the geometry of the glass body, and any existing scratch-
more rapidly, without introducing any major new stress. es must be taken into account. Therefore, it is difficult to state
Glass responds in a similar way when heated, e.g., through di- specific nu- merical values for thermal shock resistance. How-
rect exposure to a Bunsen flame, to a temperature higher than ever, a comparison of the α values shows that Boro 3.3 is much
the lower annealing point. Uncontrolled cooling may result in more resistant to thermal changes than, e.g., AR-GLAS®.
the "freezing in" of thermal stress which would considerably
reduce resistance to breakage and mechanical stability.
To eliminate inherent stress, glass must be heated up to a
temperature between the upper and lower annealing point, be
kept at this temperature for approx. 30 minutes and be cooled
by observing the prescribed cooling rates.

20

Mechanical stresses 18 Tmax for glasses of

high shape-stability

From a technical viewpoint, glasses behave in an ideally elastic 16

way. This means that, after exceeding the limits of elasticity, 14 Transformations
Lower annealing point

tensile and compressive stress does not result in plastic defor- range Upper annealing point

mation, but breakage occurs. The tensile strength is relatively 12

low and may be further diminished by scratches or cracks. For

10
safety reasons, the tensile strength of Boro 3.3 in apparatus
and plant design is calculated at 6 N/mm2. The compressive 8 Softening point
Working range
strength, however, is approximately ten times as high. p.e. sintering, pressing,
6
drawing, blowing,
melting, casting
4
log η in dPas

200 400 600 800 1000 1200

Temperature in °C

Glass viscosity curve

Typical viscosity temperature curve using a borosilicate glass as an example.

Upper annealing point Lower annealing point Linear expansion coefficient Density
(viscosity 1013 dPas) (viscosity 1014.5 dPas) α20/300 10-6 K-1 g/cm3

Soda-lime glass (AR-GLAS®) 530 495 9.1 2.52

Borosilicate glass 3.3 (Boro 3.3) 560 510 3.3 2.23

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 BRAND®, BRAND. For lab. For life.® as well as the BRAND applications depends on many factors beyond our control.
figurative mark are registered trademarks or trademarks of Please appreciate, therefore, that no claims can be derived
BRAND GMBH + CO KG, Germany. All other trademarks from our advice. The user is responsible for checking the
mentioned or depicted here are the property of the respective appropriateness of the product for any particular application.
owners. California Residents: For more information concerning Califor-
nia Proposition 65, please refer to www.brand.de/calprop65.
Our technical literature is intended to inform and advise our
customers. However, the validity of general empirical values, Subject to technical modification without notice. Errors
and of results obtained under test conditions, for specific excepted.

Further information on products

Find all information about our
and applications can be found on our
products at shop.brand.de
YouTube channel mylabBRAND

BRAND GMBH + CO KG
Postfach 1155 | 97861 Wertheim | Germany
T +49 9342 808 0 | F +49 9342 808 98000 | info@brand.de | www.brand.de

BRAND. For lab. For life.®

0722