Structural transformations in thermally modified porous glasses

The changes in the structural parameters of porous glasses (pore radius, pore volume, specific surface of pores, structural resistance coefficients) upon heating are investigated as a function of the composition of initial two-phase alkali borosilicate glasses with the use of a number of independent methods, such as the adsorption techniques (water vapor adsorption, mercury porosimetry, thermal desorption of nitrogen), transmission electron microscopy, small-angle X-ray scattering, and membrane conductivity measurements. It is demonstrated that the structural transformations in thermally modified porous glasses are associated with the processes of overcondensation of pores and viscous flow in the silica network.