Properties of Na2O�3SiO2 glasses impregnated with ethyl alcohol

Abstract

Na2O·3SiO2 glasses impregnated with up to 8.5 wt% ethanol were prepared under high pressure and hydrothermal conditions and their properties such as hardness, fracture toughness and density were measured. Both hardness and density increased initially with increasing ethanol content up to 1∼2 wt% ethanol and then decreased with further increase in ethanol content, while fracture toughness decreased monotonically. This initial increase of hardness and density of ethanol-impregnated glasses is in contrast to the behaviour of glasses with high water content, which showed a steadily decreasing hardness and density with increasing water content. A structural study using IR and X-ray diffraction analyses was also made and changes in properties of glasses with increasing ethanol was related to the formation of Si-O-C bonds and the precipitation of sodium carbonate crystal.