A simple method for tuning the glass transition process in inorganic phosphate glasses.

Abstract

The physical modification of glass transition temperature (Tg) and properties of materials via blending is a common practice in industry and academia and has a large economic advantage. In this context, simple production of hitherto unattainable new inorganic glass blends from already existing glass compositions via blending raises much hope with the potential to provide new glasses with new and improved properties, that cannot be achieved with classical glass synthesis, for a plethora of applications such as computers screens, glass-to-metal seals, and storage materials for nuclear wastes. Here, we demonstrate that blends of the specific glass compositions studied are miscible in all proportions, an unreported phenomenon in hard condensed matter like glass. Interestingly, excellent agreement was found between the obtained data and calculated Tgs from theoretical equations (Supplementary information) for predicting the composition dependence of Tg for miscible blends with weak but significant specific interactions between the blend components. That this blending method is at present not applied to inorganic glasses reflects the fact that water and chemically resistant phosphate glasses with relatively low Tgs have become available only recently.