DEVELOPMENT OF GLASS-CERAMIC GLAZES WITH ANTI-SLIP PROPERTIES FOR PORCELAIN TILES

Slip resistance is a mechanical performance feature that is to be evaluated in the selection
of ceramic flooring, always considering the flooring’s intended application. The increase in the
use of ceramic floorings in building areas of public use, exterior and/or wet ambients, has led
the market to demand increasingly higher slip resistance as a basic safety requirement, from
which civil liabilities are derived.
In order to try to solve these problems, glazes have been developed that allow the surface
finish of floorings to be modified, adapting their slip resistance performances to the demands
established for any type of application. Their anti-slip effect has originated partly by the
devitrification in the glass-ceramic glaze of crystalline phases in the quaternary system, CaO
– MgO – Al2O3 – SiO2. The devitrified phases and the crystal quantity have been studied and
controlled by XRD, SEM and DTA–TG.
Once the selected glass-ceramic systems had been characterised, they were applied to
stoneware tiles and porcelain tiles using the wet method (screen printings and slips) and the
dry method (grits), and the surface properties of these systems were determined.