• Certification according to International, EC and Italian standards of the physical and physico-chemical properties of glass, raw materials, refractories and silicate materials;
• Quali-quantitative analyses of glass raw materials, refractories and silicate materials;
• Analysis of physical properties of glass and other materials, such as density, mineralogical analysis of granulated materials, quali-quantitative analyses of crystalline phases;
• Characterization of defects in glass (stones, cord, inclusions) and identification of their origin;
• Optimization of batch compositions of commercial, decorative and special glasses;
• Optimization of melting cycles of daily furnaces;
• Physico-chemical characterization of commercial glass surfaces;
• Setting up of analytical techniques for the determination of chemical and physical properties of glass and other materials;
• Setting up of compositions for special waste vitrification;
• Compositional analyses and investigations into glassmaking technologies and corrosion mechanisms of ancient glass;
• Study, development and characterization of glass-ceramics and special glasses;

Most important instruments available are:

• Cameca SX-50 electronic microprobe (X-ray WDS microanalysis + scanning electron microscopy)

• JEOL JSM - 5900 scanning electron microscope + EDS X-ray microanalysis
• PW 2400 Philips X-ray fluorescence
• PW 1710 Philips X-ray diffraction
• Leica MZ12 stereoscopic microscope
• Zeiss Axioplan Universal microscope

Optical Tests

          The activity of the laboratory on the spectrophotometric characterization and certification according to International, EC and Italian standards of optical parameters of glass and glass products such as:

• filtering power and colour of containers;
• colour and non-colour in art glass;
• luminous, energy and thermal parameters of architectural and automotive glass;
• optical parameters of complex geometry glass;
• IR spectrophotometry analysis of hydration, dealkalization and hydrolytic alteration  phenomena on glass surfaces and coatings on glass;
• IR spectrophotometry analysis of organic materials on glass surfaces related to contamination, lubrication and decoration processes;
• refractive index, absorption factor and thickness of surface deposits on flat glass;
• development of calculation software for the evaluation of solar gain, heat loss, natural daylighting, etc., of windows;
• IR spectrophotometry analysis of water in glass;
• hot-end treatments analysis by coating meters;
  optical quality analysis of flat glass (planarity, interferences, transmitted image quality).

Most important instruments available are:

• UV-VIS-NIR-IR spectrophotometers;

• integrating sphere, 0,5 m diameter;
• FTIR GXI spectrophotometer with autoimage microscope;
• Hot End and Finish Coating meters;