Glass is a very common thing in our lives, but few people see mold on glass because they think it won't get moldy, or even if it does, it won't be noticeable, and they think the mold spots are just stains. Therefore, many people have questions and curiosity about the question "Can glass get moldy?" Yes, glass can get moldy, and if you don't have experience, many people will mistake it for stains.

Glass "mold" is commonly known as glass "weathering". This is because during storage and transportation, the surface of glass and glass products come into contact with water and air, which then causes a series of complex physical and chemical changes, which then corrodes the surface of the glass. Glass mold is mainly manifested by the formation of white spots, rainbows or mist on its surface, which affects the smoothness of the glass and reduces its transparency. In severe cases, it may even cause sticking.

Moldy glass is caused by the erosion of water vapor on the surface of the glass. Let's analyze the reasons for this phenomenon. Usually, there are two reasons: one is the "alkali precipitation" of the board surface, and the other is the erosion of the board surface by "mold", but in essence they are all caused by water vapor erosion of the glass.

The main component of glass is silicon dioxide, which has high chemical stability. However, when the surface is exposed to water vapor, a series of chemical reactions will occur and sensory changes will begin to occur on the surface of the glass, such as loss of gloss, dullness, and even mildew phenomena such as greasy films and spots. In the production process of glass, alkali metals and alkali metal ions are enriched on the surface of glass. These metal ions are the network outer body of glass and have relatively active chemical properties. If they encounter water, the alkali metal ions in the glass will exchange ions with the hydrogen ions in the water, and the sodium ions will be replaced by hydrogen ions to generate sodium hydroxide, a strong alkaline substance, and the surface aqueous solution of the glass becomes alkaline.

When water acts on glass for a long time, even in a small amount, the alkalinity of the aqueous solution will increase and the corrosive power will be enhanced. At this time, the entire network of the glass is corroded by the strong alkali, its oxygen bridge skeleton is broken, and the surface is corroded, resulting in rainbows, white spots, fog, and even sticky films.

       Therefore, the more metal oxides there are in the ingredients of glass production, the larger the sodium ion enrichment area, the more non-bridging cations there are, the greater the possibility of forming a "Si-O-Na" type structure, and the greater the possibility of mildew. Therefore, under normal circumstances, various colored glasses such as brown, green, and sapphire are more likely to mold than ordinary flat glass. At present, for the problem of glass mold, the glass mold-proof paper packaging method, sulfur dioxide fumigation method, mold-proof agent spraying method, and mold-proof powder addition method are generally used. Other methods include electrostatic powder spraying, gas atomization powder spraying, etc.