Name: Izzat Munawwir B.

Ismail
Class: 4SN5
Title:Glass and Ceramics

Glass and ceramics

Glass

 It is a mixture of two or more types of metallic silicates but the main component is
silicon(IV) dioxide.
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Glass has the following properties:

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Figure 6 : Structure of silicon dioxide

Due to the above reasons and the low cost involved to produce glass, it is used
in industry to make bottles, cooking utensils, plates and bowls, laboratory apparatus
(such as conical flask, beakers and test tubes), window panes, bulbs and others.
Different types of glass can be obtained depending on the composition of
substances in it.
Types of Glasses

There are four types of glass which are as follows:

 Fused glass
 Soda-lime glass
 Borosilicate glass
 Lead crystal glass

Soda lime glass:

 This is obtained when limestone (CaCO3) and sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) are
mixed with molten silica and cooled down.
 It is also known as soft glass as it has a low melting point.
 Most glass produced is soda lime glass. But it breaks easily, thus it is mainly
used to make kitchen utensils.

Lead glass:

 This is formed when a mixture of lead(II) oxide, sodium oxide and silica is heated
together.
 Lead glass of better quality contains a higher percentage of PbO.
 Its refractive index and density being high, it has a glittering and attractive
surface, thus it is also called crystal glass.

Borosilicate glass:

 Boron oxide (B2O3) and sodium carbonate is added to molten silica to obtain
borosilicate glass or pyrex..
 The presence of B2O3 makes the glass able to withstand high temperatures and
chemical reaction. It does not break easily, thus it is used to make laboratory
apparatus and cooking utensils.

Fused silicate glass:

 Sand (silica) is heated until it melts at 1700°C, and the viscous liquid is cooled
immediately. This produces a transparent solid with an uneven arrangement of
atoms, called fused silicate glass.
 This glass cannot expand or contract easily when there are temperature
changes. But it cannot become misshapen because of its high melting point.
 It is known as quartz glass.

Summary
Name of glass Properties Chemical composition Examples of uses

Fused glass
Very high softening Telescope mirrors,
 point (1700 °C) hence,
highly heat resistant
Transparent to SiO2 (99%)
ultraviolet and infrared Ba2 O 3 (1%)
light Lenses
Difficult to be made into Optical fibres
different shapes Laboratory glass
Does not crack when wares
temperature changes
(very low thermal
expansion coefficient)
Very resistant to
chemical reactions

Low softening point

(700 °C), hence, does
not withstand heating
Breaks easily Bottles
Cracks easily with SiO2 (70%) Windowpanes
sudden temperature Na2O (15%) Light bulbs
Soda lime glass
changes (high CaO (3%) Mirrors
coefficient of expansion) Others (5%) Bowls
Less resistant to ( The most widely
chemical reactions used type of glass)
Easy to be made into
different shapes
 High softening point
(800°C). Thus it is heat
resistant
Does not crack easily SiO2 (80%)
Laboratory apparatus
with sudden temperature Ba2 O 3 (15%)
Cooking utensils
Borosilicate glass changes Na2O (3%)
Electrical tubes
Transparent to Al 2 O 3
Glass pipelines
ultraviolet light
More resistant to
chemical reactions
Does not break easily

SiO2 (55%)
Low softening point PbO( 30%) Decorative items

(600 °C) K2O (10%) Crystal glass-wares

High density Na2O ( 3%) Lens

Lead crystal glass
High refractive index Al2 O 3 ( 2%) Prisms

Reflects light rays and Chandeliers

appears spar kling

Ceramics

 Ceramic is a substance that is made from clay and hardened by heat in a furnace
maintained at a high temperature.
 Clay is composed of aluminosilicate with sand and iron(III) oxide as impurities.
Iron(III) oxide, Fe203, gives a reddish colour to the clay.
 Kaolin, or clay in its pure form, is white in colour. It consists of crystals of
hydrated aluminosilicate with the formula Al 2Si2O7.2H2O or Al2O3.2SiO2.2H2O.
 The different classes of ceramic include:

Quartz – SiO2
Calcite – CaCO3
Mixture of CaSiO3 and aluminium silicate
Aluminium oxide – Al2O3
Silicon dioxide – SiO2
Magnesium oxide – MgO
Silicon nitride – Si3N4
Silicon carbide – SiC
Boron nitride – BN
Boron carbide – B4C3

 The preparation of ceramic objects involves 3 stages:

1. A layer of water exists between the aluminosilicate crystals. This gives it a

plastic-like property when wet. Thus the clay is first wet to make it soft before it is
shaped.
2. The shaped object is then dried. At this stage, the product can still be reshaped
by adding more water.
3. The dried object is heated to a temperature of 1000°C in a furnace. The product
of this stage cannot be softened with water or reshaped.

 The surface of ceramic object is usually coated with a layer of mineral or metallic
silicate and baked again in the furnace to produce a shining and impervious ceramic
object.
 The properties of ceramics include the following:
 The differences between the properties of ceramics, metals and non-metals are
given below.

Property Metals Non-metals Ceramic

Hard but malleable and Soft and
Hardness Hard but brittle
ductile brittle
Density High Low Average
Melting point High Low Very high
Resistance to heat High Low Very high
Heat and Electrical Good
Good conductor Good insulator
conductivity insulator
Stable, does not
Chemical reactions Corrodes Corrodes
corrode

Uses of Glass and Ceramics

 The raw materials used in the making of glass and ceramic materials are
obtained from the earth's crust. Silica or silicon(IV) dioxide, SiO2, form the most
important component of glass and ceramics.
 In the SiO2 molecule, each silicon atom is held in a tetrahedral structure by four
oxygen atoms.
 Each oxygen atom is held by two silicon atoms. This is repeated until a giant
three-dimensional molecule results.

Properties of glass and ceramic:

 Both have the following properties:

New Uses of Glass and Ceramics

 The latest use of glass is to make photochromic glass and conducting glass while
ceramics is used to produce superconductors and car engine blocks.
Photochromic glass

 Photochromic glass is very sensitive to light. It darkens in the presence of bright

light and lightens when the amount of sunlight lessens.
 The glass is produced by adding silver chloride (or silver bromide) and some
copper(II) chloride to normal glass.
 Silver halides decompose to silver and its halogen when exposed to ultraviolet
rays. Thus we have:
It is the silver which makes the glass become dark.

 When there is a decrease in light, silver chloride is formed again:

Therefore the glass lightens.

Conducting glass
 Conducting glass is a type of glass which can conduct electricity. It is obtained by
coating a thin layer of a conducting material around the glass, usually indium tin(IV)
oxide or ITO.
 Conducting glass can also be obtained by embedding thin gold strips into a piece
of glass. This is used to make the front windows of aeroplanes which tend to mist at
very high heights. By passing an electric current through this glass (containing gold
as conductors), the water of condensation will dry up.
 Superconductors are electrical conductors which have almost zero (0) electrical
resistance. Therefore, this conductor minimises the loss of electrical energy through
heat.
 Perovsite is a type of ceramic superconductor composed of itrium oxide, copper
oxide and barium oxide.
 Superconductors are also used to make magnets which are light but thousands
of times stronger than the normal magnet.
 Car Engine Block--When clay is heated with magnesium oxide, the ceramic that
is produced has a high resistance to heat. This material is used to build the engine
blocks in cars as they can withstand high temperatures