Glass is a type of solid material created by melting sand and other dry, solid ingredients. As such, it has the properties both of liquids and solids – leading to inflexibility and brittleness.
Crystalline quartz is an uncommon mineral with unique properties that make it useful in many applications. For microscopes, metrology components, and UV-transmitting optics, quartz can be utilized.
Soda-lime glass
Ninety-six percent silica glass, also known as soda-lime glass, is the most commonly used type of glass for windows and bottles due to its excellent light transmission, low melting temperature, smooth surface and non-reactive nature.
Its primary advantage is its chemical stability, making it ideal for recycling. Unfortunately, it’s not as strong and durable as borosilicate glass, making it unsuitable for items where food or drinks may need to be stored frequently.
Soda lime is primarily composed of silicon dioxide (SiO2). Other ingredients include sodium carbonate and lime.
Furthermore, the glass contains small amounts of magnesium oxide, calcium oxide, and aluminium oxide. These metal oxides lower the crystallization temperature of the glass and act as network modifiers by breaking up covalent bonds formed between silicon atoms. This allows workers to work with high temperatures without fear of liquefying.
Foamed quartz glass does not contain as much boron trioxide as soda-lime glass, allowing it to resist thermal shock. This property makes soda-lime glass ideal for food and beverage packaging where it can withstand extended exposure to direct sunlight while still retaining its structural integrity.
Soda-lime glass has many applications, and is typically used to make clear or tinted glasses. It can also be optically coated to enhance light transmission, heat strengthened/tempered for extra strength and durability, or sandblasted or colored for improved aesthetic appeal.
For example, it is often employed in the production of glass bakeware such as tempered Pyrex casserole dishes. Furthermore, it has become a popular choice for commercial buildings that need to reflect solar heat away from their interiors.
It is also used in some pharmaceutical and bio-medical devices as an insulator due to its excellent corrosion resistance and multiple remelt cycles, making it both convenient to produce and recycle.
Soda-lime glass is widely used in the automotive, electrical and medical industries for various purposes. For instance, it serves as a high-voltage insulator in electronic equipment and also appears in numerous industrial and automotive fluid control parts and components.
Borosilicate glass
Borosilicate glass is an engineered silica glass made with boron trioxide. This combination of silica and boron produces an engineered glass that’s specifically engineered to withstand thermal, chemical, and mechanical stress. It can be used in the production of high-quality products like lab equipment or borosilicate cookware.
Foamed glass offers several advantages over soda-lime glass, such as its low thermal expansion and superior resistance to thermal shock. Furthermore, this type of glass is more durable than regular annealed glass and can be shaped into various shapes like tubes, bottles, jars, bowls, and glasses.
Another key advantage of borosilicate glass is its superior corrosion resistance compared to other types of glass. This makes it suitable for resisting a wide range of acids and salts, making it especially suitable for water filters or filtration systems that must handle harsh chemicals and environments.
Boron glass can also be processed to create Controlled Pore Glass (CPG), an ideal medium for chromatography. CPG contains many small pores which enable finer separation within the glass and more precise results.
Borosilicate glass has become a go-to material for glass artists due to its variety of uses and possibilities. It can be used for sculpture and large beads, and can be colored with various metals. It’s commonly employed in pipe making as well as lampworking – an etching process in glass that produces beautiful effects.
Its superior breaking resistance makes it ideal for use in scientific labs and chemistry experiments. Furthermore, hot mirrors made of this material protect sensitive optical systems by reflecting infrared light.
Though more expensive than soda-lime glass, borosilicate glass is worth the investment if you need a durable and long-lasting product that will last a lifetime. Furthermore, it makes an excellent alternative to plastic water bottles which often come from petroleum and contribute significantly to ocean pollution.
Borosilicate glass is more eco-friendly than soda-lime glass, as it’s produced using naturally abundant and sustainable materials. Soda lime glass typically requires a lot of energy during production – something which has detrimental effects on the environment.
Fused quartz glass
96% silica glass, also referred to as fused quartz or amorphous silica, is the transparent noncrystalline form of quartz. This material finds applications in several industrial fields including semiconductor and solar industries due to its thermal, mechanical and optical properties.
Borosilicate glass is an ideal option for many of the same applications as its more famous counterpart, but it offers additional advantages that might appeal to manufacturers. For instance, its thermal shock resistance surpasses that of borosilicate by far; making it perfect for laboratory equipment exposed frequently to hot surfaces like glasswares, plates and tubes in petrochemical or chemical industries.
Another advantage of fused quartz is its exceptional purity levels. This is particularly critical in the medical field, where contamination can lead to illness or disease. Therefore, selecting suitable materials for sensitive medical devices like catheters and endoscopes is essential.
A large block of fused quartz is placed in a vacuum chamber with an electrical heating device to melt it into the desired shape. After grinding and polishing, it may then be cut, drilled, ground, or welded for component use.
Fused quartz is produced using two primary techniques: electric fusion and flame fusion. In the former, crystal quartz is fed into a refractory-lined crucible heated by an electrical source to form a viscous melt, then ground and polished into desired crystal shapes.
In the latter, a hydrogen-oxygen flame is employed to melt quartz sand and crystals. After being purified and processed, this material produces glass with precisely desired characteristics.
UV glass, lenses and optics are often made with it due to its highly efficient wave transmission in the UV spectrum. As such, it makes an ideal material for these products.
Fused silica has an extremely low coefficient of expansion, making it resistant to temperature shocks. As such, it is often used in laboratory equipment and other industries that require glassware, plates and tubes that must be rapidly heated and cooled. Furthermore, fused silica flasks can be placed atop a heater to heat fuels such as gasoline without fear of breakage which could result in fire.
Aluminosilicate glass
Ninety-six percent silica glass is the most widely used type of aluminosilicate glass due to its many beneficial properties, such as excellent electrical insulation, thermal shock resistance, chemical stability and low coefficient of thermal expansion. This makes it ideal for gauge glass and sight glass applications.
Aluminosilicate glasses range in composition but typically contain 20% to 40% alumina. They are renowned for their outstanding temperature and strength resistances, having been utilized in a range of products from optical components to spacecraft windows.
Alkali-free aluminosilicate glass is free of alkali oxides but contains around 15% alkaline earths, providing excellent transformation temperatures and softening points. This glass is commonly used for halogen lamp glass bulbs, high-temperature thermometers, combustion tubes and other applications requiring high amounts of heat resistance.
These types of aluminosilicate glasses are typically produced using the down-draw method, which involves placing a piece of glass into a die slot and drawing it upward until it reaches its desired shape. They come in numerous shapes and thicknesses to meet specific requirements.
Aluminosilicate glass is often employed for dental implants due to its chemical and physical durability, flexibility in shape, and lightweight, reusable nature – making it the perfect material for this type of work.
Furthermore, aluminosilicate glass has been demonstrated to have an important impact on the structure of igneous melts. It’s sometimes referred to as “strengthened glass” or a “sapphire-like material.”
For instance, certain tectosilicate glasses possess the unique property of altering silicate melt geometry by altering Na and K ratios. This alteration affects both its crystallinity and strength.
Another way aluminosilicate glasses influence the structure of igneous melts is through Al species present within. These Al molecules tend to be asymmetric and can be four or fivefold coordinated, and they can be found both in Al-rich and Si-rich phases.
On-going research into Al coordination in aluminosilicate glasses has been undertaken, using X-ray and neutron diffraction. Furthermore, 27Al magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy was employed to quantify Al-O bond lengths across a broad composition range.
