Specific Features of Changes in the Properties of One- and Two-Alkali Borate Glasses Containing Water: I. Viscosity, Thermal Expansion, and Kinetics of Structural Relaxation in Binary Alkali Borate Glasses

Alkali borate glasses with different contents of residual water are prepared by varying the synthesis conditions. The temperature dependences of the viscosity and thermal expansion of glasses are obtained. The structural relaxation parameters are calculated from the hysteresis dilatometric curves measured. The water content is determined using the IR absorption spectra in the range of stretching vibrations of hydroxyl groups at room temperature. It is found that an increase in the water concentration in alkali borate glasses leads to a decrease in the viscosity. The character of variations in the viscosity logarithm with a change in the water content depends on the alkali cation concentration. The glass transition temperatures determined from the dilatometric curves for all the studied glasses decrease with an increase in the water content. As the water concentration increases, the thermal expansion coefficient (above and below the glass transition range) and the degree of fragility decrease for glasses containing 25 mol % Na₂O, increase for glasses with an alkali oxide content of 15 mol %, and remain virtually unchanged for glasses involving 5.5 mol % Na₂O. A change in the water content in the concentration range under investigation does not affect the structural relaxation parameters.