Hydrated Na₂O-B₂O₃-SiO₂ glass prepared by colloid chemistry method

Abstract In this paper, the hydrated Na₂O-B₂O₃-SiO₂ glass was prepared by colloid chemistry method, sodium silicate solution and boric acid as raw materials. The high viscosity transparent Na₂O-B₂O₃-SiO₂ colloid was drawn from the solution in the course of mixing, after drying in the oven at 60-200 °C for 24 h, the hard and transparent hydrated glass was obtained. The effect of drying temperature and B₂O₃ content was studied. The phase composition and thermal parameters were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction and thermal analysis. It was found that the temperature of glass transition (T_g) of this kind of glass increased along with the increase of the drying temperature and the durability of this glass increased with B₂O₃ content. The hydrated Na₂O-B₂O₃-SiO₂ glass could be dried to give amorphous solids, so it might have broad application prospects in the lightweight thermal insulation material field.