Sound velocity in alumino-silicate liquids determined up to 2550 K from Brillouin spectroscopy: glass transition and crossover temperatures

Hypersonic longitudinal sound velocities in five silicate and alumino-silicate liquids have been measured between 293 and 2550 K by Brillouin spectroscopy. Together with previous observations for four other glasses and liquids of the system SiO₂-Al₂O₃-CaO-MgO, these results are used to discuss changes in hypersonic velocities in three adjacent temperature domains, i.e., below, in, and above the glass transformation range. The temperature dependence of Brillouin velocities is consistent with the observed variations with temperature of viscosity, density, and mean heat capacity for the same three temperature domains. These variations of physical properties of alumino-silicate liquids are qualitatively in agreement with the Inherent Structure Theory for liquids.     

New description of structural disorder in silica glass

Structural changes in cristobalite and silica glass and melt are investigated at high temperatures by molecular dynamics simulations. The calculated interaction energies are analyzed employing a new method called ‘atomistic energy distribution analysis’. Each pair-interaction energy is divided into equal halves which are allocated to each atom. Therefore, each atom has the summed-up value (‘atomistic potential energy’) of half the pair-interaction energies. First, an analysis of atomistic energy distribution functions show a correspondence with structural changes such as α–β phase transition, cristobalite melting and glass transition of SiO₂, in harmony with the results obtained in our preceding study. Moreover, this study demonstrates the different roles of oxygen and silicon in terms of structural changes. Finally, newly defined order parameters offer the possibility of distinguishing structures resulting from different thermal histories through introduction of higher moments.     

Time-dependent isothermal variations of silicate melt viscosity after sudden temperature or stress changes

Time-dependent variations of the viscosity of silicate melts, associated with sudden changes of temperature or uniaxial compressive stress, have been measured. The melt compositions were MgCaSi₂O₆, CaAl₂Si₂O₈ and NaAlSi₃O₈. The steady-state viscosity values were between 1 and 1000 TPa s. Applied stresses were always less than 200 MPa, and the observed stabilized melt flow was Newtonian. The characteristic times of the viscosity variation with time, due to adjustments of the internal structure of the melts after a thermal perturbation, depend on temperature and composition. The characteristic times for isothermal stress perturbations are about 10 times shorter than for thermal perturbations.     

Equation of state of hollandite type-structure

Abstract

The room-temperature compression of BaFeMn₇O₁₆hollandite has been determined to 519 kbar with X-Ray methods. With a 1-bar molar volume of V₀=339±2 cm³/mol and a Birch-Murnaghan equation of state, we obtain for the bulk modulus K'₀=2304±150 kbar and for the pressure derivative K'₀=1.73±0.45.If these moduli are typical of a hollandite structure, then the high-pressure density of the Ca_0.5Mg_0.5Al₂Si₂O₈pseudo-hollandite could be similar to those of silicates with a perovskite structure.     

Residual and configurational entropy: Quantitative checks through applications of Adam–Gibbs theory to the viscosity of silicate melts

In this paper the traditional view that glasses possess residual entropy, which can be determined by calorimetric means, is quantitatively supported by applications of Adam and Gibbs configurational entropy theory to the temperature, composition and pressure dependences of the viscosity of silicate melts. This theory is also in harmony with the mechanisms of viscous flow, as understood from NMR experiments, according to which viscosity is controlled by the rate of bond rearrangements between network-forming cations and oxygens. As a matter of fact, Adam and Gibbs basic expression relating structural relaxation times to the reciprocal of the product of temperature and configurational entropy can be derived from a phenomenological analysis of the temperature dependence of the activation energy for viscous flow. Adam–Gibbs theory thus works well for silicate melts because network-modifying cations also play a role in bond rearrangements such that, as a bulk property, configurational entropy is actually relevant to structural relaxation and flow.     

Energetics and bonding in aluminosilicate rings with alkali metal and alkaline-Earth metal charge-compensating cations

The stabilizing effect of alkali and alkaline-earth metal ions on the oxygen donors of four- and six-membered faujausite-like rings has been calculated in terms of Kohn-Sham core-level (O1s) energy shifts with respect to these same complexes without cations. The results confirm and complement earlier investigations by Vayssilov and co-workers where Na(+) and K(+) were the only complexing cations. The oxygen donor centers in six-membered rings are stabilized by -3.6 ± 0.4, -3.9 ± 0.5, -7.3 ± 0.1, and -7.6 ± 0.2 eV by K(+), Na(+), Ca(2+), and Mg(2+) adions, respectively. The energy shifts are even greater for four-membered rings where the stabilization effects attain -3.7 ± 0.1, -4.1 ± 0.1, -8.1 ± 0.1, and -9.0 ± 0.1 eV, respectively. These effects are also observed on the low-lying σ-bonding and antibonding molecular orbitals (MOs) of the oxygen framework, but in a less systematic fashion. Clear relationships with the core-level shifts are found when the effects of alkali metal complexation are evaluated through electron localization/delocalization indices, which are defined in terms of the whole wave function and not just of the individual orbitals. Complexation with cations not only involves a small but significant electron sharing of the cation with the oxygen atoms in the ring but also enhances electron exchange among oxygen atoms while reducing that between the O atoms and the Si or Al atoms bonded to them. Such changes slightly increase from Na to K and from Mg to Ca, whereas they are significantly enhanced for alkaline-earth metals relative to alkali metals. With respect to Al-free complexes, Si/Al substitution and cation charge compensation generally enhance electron delocalization among the O atoms, except between those that are linked through an Al atom, and cause either an increased or a decreased Si-O ionicity (smaller/higher electron exchange) depending on the position of O in the chain relative to the Al atom(s). The generally increased electron delocalization among O atoms in the ring is induced by significant electron transfer from the adsorbed metal to the atoms in the ring. This same transfer establishes an electric field that leads to a noticeable change in the ring-atom core-level energies. The observed shifts are larger for the oxygen atoms because, being negatively charged, they are more easily polarizable than Al and Si. The enhanced electron delocalization among O atoms upon cation complexation is also manifest in Pauling's double-bond nature of the bent σ-bonding MO between nonadjacent oxygen centers in O-based ring structures.     

Boson peak of alkali and alkaline earth silicate glasses: influence of the nature and size of the network-modifying cation

The influence of the size of the alkaline earth cation on the boson peak of binary metasilicate glasses, MSiO(3) (M = Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba), has been investigated from vibrational densities of states determined by inversion of low-temperature heat capacities. As given both by C(p)/T(3) and g(ω)/ω(2), the intensity of the boson peak undergoes a 7-fold increase from Mg to Ba, whereas its temperature and frequency correlatively decrease from 18 to 10 K and from 100 to 20 cm(-1), respectively. The boson peak results from a combination of librations of SiO(4) tetrahedra and localized vibrations of network-modifying cations with non-bridging oxygens whose contribution increases markedly with the ionic radius of the alkaline earth. As a function of ionic radii, the intensity for Sr and Ba varies in the same way as previously found for alkali metasilicate glasses. The localized vibrations involving alkali and heavy alkaline earth cations appear to be insensitive to the overall glass structure. Although the new data are coherent with an almost linear relationship between the temperature of the boson peak and transverse sound velocity, pure SiO(2) and SiO(2)-rich glasses make marked exceptions to this trend because of the weak transverse character of SiO(4) librations. Finally, the universality of the calorimetric boson peak is again borne out because all data for silicate glasses collapse on the same master curve when plotted in a reduced form (C(P)∕/T(3))/(C(P)/T(3))(b) vs. T/T(b).     

Enthalpy,volume and structural relaxation in glass-forming silicate melts

Through structural relaxation, the configuration of a viscous liquid changes to allow the Gibbs free energy to be minimum in response to temperature variations. In this review, the practical importance of relaxation in silicate melts is first illustrated by configurational heat capacity and entropy and their connection with viscosity via Adam-Gibbs theory. Relaxation effects on thermal expansion and compressibility are then examined, and the similarity of the kinetics of structural, enthalpy and volume relaxation is pointed out. Turning to microscopic mechanisms, we finally stress the importance of Si-O bond exchange and its decoupling with the motion of network-modifying elements near the glass transition. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Molecular dynamics simulation of temperature-induced structural changes in cristobalite,coesite and amorphous silica

Structural changes in cristobalite, coesite, and amorphous silica have been investigated from 100 to 3000 K by molecular dynamics simulations. These have been made with ‘soft potentials’ that yield melting and glass transition temperatures in fair agreement with experimental data. The simulated density of cristobalite increases abruptly at the α–β transition, that of coesite increases gradually, whereas that of amorphous silica goes through a density maximum around 2000 K. In the three phases, the complex temperature-induced structural changes have been analyzed in terms of variations of the abundances of four ‘structons’ which represent different kinds of Si–O bond lengths and torsional angles between two SiO₄ units. These changes in cristobalite, coesite and amorphous silica can then be rationalized in terms of loosening of network and of dynamical rotation of SiO₄ units. The relation between structural changes and ring statistics is also discussed.