The investigations of this work are dedicated to the production of highly alkali resistant porous glasses, evaluating the effect of adding ZrO2 to the sodium borosilicate Vycortype glass. The additions were made with the purpose of improving the ability of the silica porous structure to withstand alkaline solutions. Base glasses (BG) with 0 mol% ZrO2 (Zr0), 3 mol% ZrO2 (Zr3) and 6 mol% ZrO2 (Zr6) were produced by the conventional melting and quenching method. The vitreous structure of the BG was confirmed by XRD. Further characterization tests such as density, ATR and DSC were performed as well. To induce spinodal phase separation and create a two-phase matrix (an insoluble silica rich phase and a soluble sodium-borate phase), BG were heat treated at different temperatures from 560 °C to 700 °C for 12 hours. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) confirmed the expected interconnected spong...

The investigations of this work are dedicated to the production of highly alkali resistant porous glasses, evaluating the effect of adding ZrO2 to the sodium borosilicate Vycortype glass. The additions were made with the purpose of improving the ability of the silica porous structure to withstand alkaline solutions. Base glasses (BG) with 0 mol% ZrO2 (Zr0), 3 mol% ZrO2 (Zr3) and 6 mol% ZrO2 (Zr6) were produced by the conventional melting and quenching method. The vitreous structure of the BG was confirmed by XRD. Further characterization tests such as density, ATR and DSC were performed as well. To induce spinodal phase separation and create a two-phase matrix (an insoluble silica rich phase and a soluble sodium-borate phase), BG were heat treated at different temperatures from 560 °C to 700 °C for 12 hours. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) confirmed the expected interconnected spong...