The structure of titanium silicate glasses investigated by Si K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy

Abstract

The structure of glasses along the TiO 2SiO 2 join, have been investigated using Si K-edge extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (EXAFS) and X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (XANES). XANES spectra of glasses along the TiO 2SiO 2 join indicate that the Si environment is similar in all glasses. The addition of TiO 2 has little affect on the SiO 2 network and there is no significant distortion of the SiO 4 tetrahedron nor change in SiOSi bond angle. The calculated SiO bond distance remains at about 1.60 even up to 11.6 mol% (14.9 wt%) TiO 2; well within the metastable glass region. No evidence is observed for the formation of Ti clusters.