THE POTENTIAL OF USING LOCALLY AVAILABLE RAW MATERIALS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF ALKALINE EARTH ALUMINOSILICATE BASE GLASS SYSTEM

Abstract

The study placed emphasis on utilizing locally available raw materials to produce a calcium-magnesiumalumino-silicate (CaO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2) base glass system. Major sources of oxides for preparation of glass batch were feldspar, limestone and magnesite. The chemical composition of the base glass system consists of  52 wt% SiO2, 16 wt% Al2O3, 16 wt% CaO, 8wt% MgO, 2 wt% K2O, 3.7 wt% trace oxides, and 0.3 wt% NaCl. After production, the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the sample was 2 . SEM analysis displayed the presence of amorphous phase due to lack of long range order.XRF analysis was used to determine the chemical compositions of the three samples and the results revealed that they are suitable for making CaO-MgO-Al2O3SiO2 base glass system. 280 HV was the micro hardness average value of glass sample produced, 2.2 g/cm3was average value of apparent density,  and 0.5g/cm3 and 0.7g/cm3 were the average results of the chemical durability of produced samples in 1M HCl and 1M NaOH solutions respectively. Determination of various properties suggests that superior properties depended on composition, melting condition, temperature and annealing of the glassy material. The properties of the glass samples highlighted the potential of local raw materials for making calcium-magnesium-alumino-silicate base glass system.