COPPER REVERSIBLE ALKALI ION-EXCHANGE OF ALKALI ALUMINOSILICATE GLASSES IN COPPER-CONTAINING MOLTEN-SALT .1. MONOVALENT COPPER SALT, CUCL

Cu+ half-arrows-pointing-to-left-and-right (R = Li, Na, and K) ion exchange experiments were conducted for 20R2O.10Al2O3.70SiO2 glasses in molten CuCl at 550-degrees-C in air and nitrogen atmospheres. The depth profiles of the copper incorporated into glasses were determined with an electron microprobe X-ray analyzer. The total amount of diffusing copper, M(t), strongly depended on the type of alkali ion in the glass and the ion-exchange atmosphere; i.e., M(t) increased with increasing cationic size in the order Li < Na < K and M(t) was greater in air than in nitrogen. The Cu half-arrows-pointing-left-and-right R+ ion exchange kinetics are discussed in detail.