Thermal properties of sodium borosilicate glasses as a function of sulfur content

Sulfur trioxide (SO3) additions, up to 3.0 mass%, were systematically investigated for effects on the physical properties of sodium borosilicate glass melted in air, with a sulfur-free composition of 50SiO(2)-10Al(2)O(3)-12B(2)O(3)-21Na(2)O-7CaO (mass%). Solubility measurements, using electron microscopy chemical analysis, determined the maximum loading to be 1.2 mass% SO3. It was found that measured sulfur (here as sulfate) additions up to 1.18 mass% increased the glass transition temperature by 3%, thermal diffusivity by 11%, heat capacity by 10%, and thermal conductivity by 20%, and decreased the mass density by 1%. Structural analysis, performed with Raman spectroscopy, indicated that the borosilicate network polymerized with sulfur additions up to 3.0 mass%, presumably due to Na2O being required to charge compensate the ionic SO42- additions, thus becoming unavailable to form non-bridging oxygen in the silicate network. It is postulated that this increased cross-linking of the borosilicate backbone led to a structure with higher dimensionality and average bond energy. This increased the mean free paths and vibration frequency of the phonons, which resulted in the observed increase in thermal properties.