NAME: DEPT.

: COURSE :

AJELE ABIODUN E. GLASS TECHNOLOGY GCT 111

THE CRYSTALLINE AND RANDOM NETWORK MODELS OF GLASS STRUCTURE Network glasses

The random network structure of glassy SiO2 in two-dimensions. Note that, as in the crystal, each Silicon atom is bonded to 4 oxygen atoms, where the fourth oxygen atom is obscured from view in this plane.

The periodic crystalline lattice structure of SiO2 in two-dimensions. Early theories relating to the structure of glass included the crystallite theory whereby glass is an aggregate of crystallites (extremely small crystals).[2] However, structural determinations of vitreous SiO2 and GeO2 made by Warren and co-workers in the 1930s using x-ray diffraction showed the structure of glass to be typical of an amorphous solid[3] In 1932 Zachariasen introduced the random network theory of glass in which the nature of bonding in the glass is the same as in the crystal but where the basic structural units in a glass are connected in a random manner in contrast to the periodic arrangement in a crystalline material. [4] Despite the lack of long range order, the structure of glass does exhibit a high degree of ordering on short length scales due to the chemical bonding constraints in local atomic polyhedra.[5] For example, the SiO4 tetrahedra that form the fundamental structural units in silica glass represent a high degree of order, i.e. every silicon atom is coordinated by 4 oxygen atoms and the nearest neighbour Si-O bond length exhibits only a narrow distribution throughout the structure.[2] The tetrahedra in silica also form a network of ring structures which leads to ordering on more intermediate length scales of up to approximately 10 Angstroms. As in other amorphous solids, the atomic structure of a glass lacks any long range translational periodicity. However, due to chemical bonding characteristics glasses do possess a high degree of short-range order with respect to local atomic polyhedra.[5] It is deemed that the bonding structure of glasses, although disordered, has the same symmetry signature (Hausdorff-Besicovitch dimensionality) as for crystalline materials.[6]

Tetrahedral structural unit of silica (SiO2), the basic building block of common glasses. Crystalline SiO2 Silica (the chemical compound SiO2) has a number of distinct crystalline forms: quartz, tridymite, cistobalite, and others (including the high pressure polymorphs Stishovite and Coesite). Nearly all of them involve tetrahedral SiO4 units linked together by shared vertices in different arrangements. Si-O bond lengths vary between the different crystal forms. For example, in -quartz the bond length is 161 pm, whereas in -tridymite it ranges from 154171 pm. The Si-O-Si bond angle also varies from 140 in -tridymite to 144 in -quartz to 180 in -tridymite. Glassy SiO2 In amorphous silica (fused quartz), the SiO4 tetrahedra form a network that does not exhibit any longrange order. However, the tetrahedra themselves represent a high degree of local ordering, i.e. every silicon atom is coordinated by 4 oxygen atoms and the nearest neighbour Si-O bond length exhibits only a narrow distribution throughout the structure.[2] Despite the lack of ordering on extended length scales, the tetrahedra also form a network of ring-like structures which lead to ordering on intermediate length scales (up to approximately 10 Angstroms or so).[2] Under the application of high pressure (approximately 40 GPa) silica glass undergoes a continuous polyamorphic phase transition into an octahedral form, i.e. the Si atoms are surrounded by 6 oxygen atoms instead of four in the ambient pressure tetrahedral glass.[7] STRUCTURE OF GLASS CONSTITUENTS IN SILICON, BORAX, PHOSPHATE SILICA is the most abundant mineral found in the crust of the earth. It forms an important constituent of practically all rock-forming minerals. It is found in a variety of forms, as quartz crystals, massive forming hills, quartz sand (silica sand), sandstone, quartzite, tripoli, diatomite, flint, opal, chalcedonic forms like agate, onyx etc., and in with numerous other forms depending upon colour such as purple quartz (amethyst), smoky quartz, yellow quartz or false topaz (citrine), rose quartz and milky quartz. Only pure quartz crystal or rock crystal, untwinned, clear, free from any inclusion, has an important property: It expands (mechanically) under the influence of electric current and conversely pressure induces a measurable electric current. This property is known as piezoelectricity. The current thus developed is called piezoelectric current.

Borax Hydrated sodium borate Na2B4O7 -10H2O Borax fuses at a low temperature and easily dissolves in different important elements like copper, chromium, cobalt, iron, nickel, and uranium giving different characteristic colours. The History Says Borax mining in the United States started with the production of borax from Borax lake in Tehama County in 1864. The discovery of cotton ball ulexite in the playa of Teel's Marsh by Frances Marion (Borax) Smith in 1872 ushered in the first major production of Borax in the United States. The center of cotton ball production then moved to Death Valley in 1880. The most famous operation was the Harmony borax works run by William Tell Coleman. This is the operation that become associated with the twenty mule team wagons. With the discovery of colemanite the Playa period started to decline. The Present Scenario Borax is used as a flux in the manufacture of artificial gems. Cubic boron nitride, commercially called 'Borazon' equals the diamond in hardness and has a greater resistance to oxidation under heat. Borazon can stand the temperature which is more than twice the temperature limit of a diamond i.e. about 900C. BORAX is a white powdery or granular substance used for refining gold and silver. Amongst the minerals, borax may be regarded to have taken a lead in industrial applications since early forties and now it is also regarded as a potential raw material for use as an additive in rocket fuel. Borax is the most important boron mineral of industrial use. Boron minerals are many - as many as sixty are known - occurring as borates or complex borosilicates, but only four borates are regarded as having any commercial importance. These are:

Borax (Hydrated Sodium Borate) Na2O, 2B2O3, 1OH2O : Na2O, 16.2%; B2O3, 36.6%; H2O, 47.2%. Kernite (Hydrated Sodium Borate) Na2O, 2B2O3, 4H2O : Na2O, 22.6%; B2O3, 51.1%; H2O, 26.3% Colemanite (Hydrated Calcium Borate) 2CaO, 3 B2O3, 5H2O : CaO, 27.2%; B2O3, 50.9%; H2O, 21.9%. Ulexite (Hydrated Sodium Calcium Borate) Na2O, 2CaO, 5 B2O3, 16 H2O : Na2O, 7.7%; CaO, 13.8%; B2O3, 43.0%; H2O, 35.5%.

Besides, the above four boron minerals of commercial importance, two more borates, sassoline (H2BO3) the natural boric acid and boracite 5MgO, MgCl2,

7B2O3 are of some importance. Boro silicates are regarded to have been formed due to pneumatolysis. Borates have been derived from:

Volcanic gases or hot springs near the volcanic activities, such deposits being predominantly borax and sassoline.

Phosphate A phosphate, also known as phosphorus, P or PO4, is, according to chemistry, a polyatomic ion or radical which consists of one phosphorus atom and four oxygen. In organic chemistry, the alkylated derivatives of phosphates are known as organophosphates. In biological systems, the phosphorus are found in the form of phosphate ion and various phosphate esters. Among others, it is found as the compounds DNA and RNA. Other compounds, like the substituted phosphines, do have their uses in organic chemistry but they do not seem to have any natural counterparts. Phosphate or phosphorus occurs naturally and is found in many phosphate minerals. Rare phosphide minerals may be found in meteorites but the elemental phosphorous and the phosphides are not found.

References ^ McQuarrie, D.A., Statistical Mechanics (Harper Collins, 1976) ^ a b c d Adrian C Wright (1994). "Neutron scattering from vitreous silica. V. The structure of vitreous silica: What have we learned from 60 years of diffraction studies?". Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids 179: 84115. Bibcode 1994JNCS..179...84W. doi:10.1016/0022-3093(94)90687-4. 3. ^ B.E. Warren (1934). "The Diffraction of X-Rays in Glass". The Physical Review 45: 657. Bibcode 1934PhRv...45..657W. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.45.657. 4. ^ W.H. Zachariasen (1932). "The Atomic Arrangement in Glass". J. Amer. Chem. Soc. 54: 3841. doi:10.1021/ja01349a006. 5. ^ a b P.S. Salmon (2002). "Order within disorder". Nature Materials 1 (2): 87. doi:10.1038/nmat737. PMID 12618817. 6. ^ M.I. Ojovan, W.E. Lee (2006). "Topologically disordered systems at the glass transition". J. Phys.: Condensed Matter 18: 1150711520. Bibcode 2006JPCM...1811507O. doi:10.1088/0953-8984/18/50/007.
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