History
Water Glass was defined in Von Wagner's Manual of Chemical Technology (1892 translation) as any of the soluble alkaline silicates, first observed by Van Helmont in 1640 as a fluid substance made by melting sand with excess alkali. Glauber made what he termed "fluid silica" in 1648 from potash and silica. Von Fuchs, in 1825, obtained what is now known as water glass by treating silicic acid with an alkali, the result being soluble in water, "but not affected by atmospheric changes". Von Wagner distinguished soda, potash, double(soda and potash), and fixin as types of water glass. The fixing type was "a mixture of silica well saturated with potash water glass and a sodium silicate" used to stabilize inorganic water color pigments on cement work for outdoor signs and murals.
Read more about this topic: Sodium Silicate
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