Patent ID: 8973401
Filing Date: 2015-03-10
Classification: A01N,C03C,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A method of making an antimicrobial, chemically strengthened glass article, said method comprising: providing a glass article having a first surface, and a plurality of ion exchangeable alkali metal ions; providing a first ion-exchange bath comprising a plurality of first ion exchanging alkali metal ions, each having a larger size than the size of the ion exchangeable alkali metal ions, and ion exchanging a portion of the plurality of ion exchangeable alkali metal ions in the glass article for the first ion exchanging alkali metal ions in the first ion-exchange bath to impart a compressive stress greater than 250 MPa into the glass article; providing a second ion-exchange bath comprising 0.005 wt % to 10 wt % silver nitrate having a plurality of silver ions and a plurality of the first ion exchanging alkali metal ions; ion-exchanging the glass article with the compressive stress greater than 250 MPa in the second ion-exchange bath to ion exchange a portion of the silver ions and a portion of said first ion exchanging alkali metal ions into the first surface to form a glass article having a compressive stress of greater than 250 MPa and at least one antimicrobial surface; and wherein the concentration of silver ions at the first surface of the glass article having a compressive stress greater than 250 MPa and at least one antimicrobial surface is in the range of greater than zero to less than 0.080 μg/cm