Structure Of Borate Glasses

Boron Oxide plays a key role in numerous glasses of high technological importance, yet its role in glass structure is far from clear. Indeed, in recent years there have been serious chal lenges to previous structure concepts for both crystalline and glassy borates. These challenges were sufficient to warrant a re examination of the structure of borate glasses using the most pow erful tools currently available. To provide a suitable forum for this undertaking, a four-day conference on "Boron in Glass and Glass Ceramics" was convened at Alfred University, June 3-8, 1977 to review the best scientific thinking on structure and to debate conflicting views and discuss properties and applications of borate glasses. This conference was also the first in a New University series on Glass Science to be rotated among Alfred University, The Pensyl vania State University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and the University of Missouri-Rolla. The present volume represents the proceedings of the first conference in this series. The volume begins with a review of the remarkable contribution of Jan Krogh-Moe to the understanding of the structure of Borate glasses. This review, authored by Professor N. J. Kreidl, concludes by dedicating the proceedings of this conference as a Krogh-Moe Fest schrift. The volume continues with a historical review by D. L. Griscom, originally prepared for circulation to the contributors prior to the conference. An Epilogue to the opening chapter brings the survey up-to-date in light of the conference papers.

Raman spectra of the alkali borate glasses are presented with emphasis on the implications of detailed frequency shifts and line shapes. The results are interpreted on a rather complicated three-level hierarchy of glass structures which include boron-oxygen polyhedra, topologically closed rings of polyhedra, and larger scale interconnected clusters of alkali-rich and alkali-poor structures. Both the model and the argument are deliberately vague. The borate glasses appear to be highly disordered materials with a size scale such that no presently available tool gives a really clear view of the structural detail.