The aim of this study is to produce and characterize
glass materials,
which have an enhanced antibacterial property by the conventional
melting method. Container glass compositions including different amounts
of zinc oxide (ZnO) (5.0, 7.5, and 10.0%) were prepared and melted
to be able to obtain the antibacterial glass. The Release and antibacterial
tests, which were performed after the melting process, showed that
the glass doped with 5% ZnO was the most appropriate composition according
to test results (99.82% Escherichia coli inactivation) and its raw materials’ costs. Physical, thermal,
and mechanical properties such as thermal expansion coefficient (86.1
× 10–7/°C), density (2.523 g/cm3), refractive index (1.5191), hardness (596 kg/mm2), and
elastic modulus (5.84 GPa) of the glass doped with 5% ZnO were determined,
and the results showed that the obtained antibacterial glass sample
is suitable to be used as a glass container. HighTemperature Melting
Observation System studies were performed on the produced antibacterial
glass composition, and it was found that the antibacterial glass can
be produced in soda lime glass furnaces without changing any furnace
design and production parameters. This antibacterial glass can be
a remarkable product for the pharmaceutical and food industries.