Structural study of sodium silicate glasses and melts

Abstract

We report an X-ray diffraction study and modeling of the structure of sodium silicate glasses and melts that are used as binders in the production of the latest generation of ceramic welding fluxes. Experimental data and reverse Monte Carlo (RMC) simulations results are analyzed in comparison with results for a sodium silicate monolith and the water glass prepared from it. The RMC results agree well with structure factor and radial distribution function analysis data. The sodium silicate glasses and melts are shown to have a number of structural features, which have much in common with their crystalline counterparts. The high capacity of the silicate glasses and melts for water is due to the presence of nanopores formed (largely) by six-membered rings of silicon-oxygen tetrahedra and partially by sodium-oxygen octahedra.