Km. Davis et M. Tomozawa, AN INFRARED SPECTROSCOPIC STUDY OF WATER-RELATED SPECIES IN SILICA GLASSES, Journal of non-crystalline solids, 201(3), 1996, pp. 177-198
Infrared (IR) spectroscopic measurements were made on types I, III and
IV silica glass specimens before and after they were subjected to hea
t treatments at 80-1150 degrees C in low-pressure steam, ambient air a
nd dry air. In addition to the standard silanol band at 3672 cm(-1), I
R features attributed to free, hydrogen-bonded and structurally bound
molecular water and to silanol which is hydrogen-bonded to neighboring
silanol groups, water molecules and chlorine impurities were found to
exist even in glasses with maximum total water concentrations of less
than approximately 500 ppm H2O by weight. The existence of these spec
ies and their behaviors during heat treatments suggest a specific mech
anism for the reaction between silica glass and molecular water. In ad
dition, it is shown that the glass-water reaction does not attain equi
librium instantaneously at temperatures below 750 degrees C.