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Borosilicate glass
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Borosilicate glass is a type of glass with the main glass-forming constituents silica and boron
oxide. Borosilicate glasses are known for having very low coefficients of thermal expansion
(~3 106 /C at 20C), making them resistant to thermal shock, more so than any other
common glass. Such glass is less subject to thermal stress and is commonly used for the
construction of reagent bottles. Borosilicate glass is sold under such trade names as Kimax,
Pyrex, Endural, Schott, or Refmex.

Contents

1 History

2 Manufacturing process

3 Physical characteristics

4 Usage

5 Borosilicate nanoparticles

6 In lampworking
o 6.1 Beadmaking

7 References

8 External links

History
Borosilicate glass was first developed by German glassmaker Otto Schott in the late 19th
century[1] and sold under the brand name "Duran" in 1893. After Corning Glass Works

introduced Pyrex in 1915, the name became a synonym for borosilicate glass in the Englishspeaking world.
The European manufacturer of Pyrex, Arc International, uses borosilicate glass in its Pyrex
glass kitchen products;[2] however, the U.S. manufacturer of Pyrex kitchenware uses tempered
soda-lime glass.[3] Thus Pyrex can refer to either soda-lime glass or borosilicate glass when
discussing kitchen glassware, while Pyrex, Bomex, Duran, TGI and Simax all refer to
borosilicate glass when discussing laboratory glassware.
Most borosilicate glass is colorless. Colored borosilicate, for the studio glass trade, was first
widely brought onto the market in 1986 when Paul Trautman founded Northstar Glassworks.
[citation needed]
In 2000, former Northstar Glassworks employee Henry Grimmett started Glass
Alchemy and developed the first cadmium Crayon Colors and aventurine Sparkle colors in
the borosilicate palette.
In addition to the quartz, sodium carbonate, and aluminum oxide traditionally used in
glassmaking, boron is used in the manufacture of borosilicate glass. The composition of low
expansion borosilicate glass such as those laboratory glasses mentioned above is
approximately 80% silica, 13% boric oxide, 4% sodium oxide, and 2-3% aluminum oxide.
Though more difficult to make than traditional glass due to the high melting temperature
required (Corning conducted a major revamp of their operations to make it), it is economical
to produce. Its superior durability, chemical and heat resistance finds excellent use in
chemical laboratory equipment, cookware, lighting and, in certain cases, windows.

Manufacturing process
Borosilicate glass is created by adding boric oxide[4] to the traditional glassmaker's frit of
silicate sand, soda, and ground lime. Since borosilicate glass melts at a higher temperature
than ordinary silicate glass, some new techniques were required for industrial production.
Borrowing from the welding trade, burners combining oxygen with natural gas were required.

Physical characteristics
The common type of borosilicate glass used for laboratory glassware has a very low thermal
expansion coefficient (3.3 x 106/K),[5] about one-third that of ordinary soda-lime glass. This
reduces material stresses caused by temperature gradients which makes borosilicate a more
suitable type of glass for certain applications (see below).
The softening point (temperature at which viscosity is approximately
7740 Pyrex is 820 C (1,510 F).[6]

poise) of type

Borosilicate glass is less dense than typical soda-lime glass due to the low atomic weight of
boron.
While more resistant to thermal shock than other types of glass, borosilicate glass can still
crack or shatter when subject to rapid or uneven temperature variations. When broken,
borosilicate glass tends to crack into large pieces rather than shattering (it will snap rather
than splinter).

Optically, borosilicate glasses are crown glasses with low dispersion (Abbe numbers around
65) and relatively low refractive indices (1.511.54 across the visible range).

Usage
This section is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can
help by converting this section to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available.
(October 2011)

Virtually all modern laboratory glassware is borosilicate glass. It is so widely used in this
application due to its chemical and thermal resistance and good optical clarity, but the glass
can be reacted with sodium hydride to produce sodium borohydride, a common laboratory
reducing agent. Fused quartz is also found in some laboratory equipment when its higher
melting point and transmission of UV are required (e.g. for tube furnace liners and UV
cuvettes), but the cost and difficulty of working with quartz make it excessive for the
majority of laboratory equipment.
During the mid-twentieth century, borosilicate glass tubing was used to pipe coolants (often
distilled water) through high power vacuum tubebased electronic equipment, such as
commercial broadcast transmitters.
Glass cookware is another common usage. Borosilicate glass is used for measuring cups,
featuring screen printed markings providing graduated measurements, which are widely used
in American kitchens.
Aquarium heaters are sometimes made of borosilicate glass. Due to its high heat resistance, it
can tolerate the significant temperature difference between the water and the nichrome
heating element.
Many current glass sex toys use high grade Borosilicate glass. The toys are generally hand
blown, their beauty combined with the ease of cleaning and a long service life make them a
popular material.[7]
Many high-quality flashlights use borosilicate glass for the lens. This allows for a higher
percentage of light transmittance through the lens compared to plastics and lower-quality
glass.
Several types of high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps, such as mercury vapor and metal
halide lamps, use borosilicate glass as the outer envelope material.
Specialty marijuana and tobacco pipes are made from borosilicate glass. The high heat
resistance makes the pipes more durable.
Most premanufactured glass guitar slides are also made of borosilicate glass.
New lampworking techniques led to artistic applications such as contemporary glass marbles.
The modern studio glass movement has responded to color. "The availability of colors began
to increase when companies such as Glass Alchemy introduced the Crayon Colors, which
brought a whole new vivacity to the glass industry."[8] Borosilicate is commonly used in the

glassblowing form of lampworking and the artists create a range of products ranging from
jewelry, kitchenware, to sculpture as well as for artistic glass tobacco pipes.
Borosilicate glass is sometimes used for high-quality beverage glassware. Borosilicate glass
lends kitchen- and glassware increased durability along with microwave and dishwasher
compatibility.
Most astronomical reflecting telescope glass mirror components are made of borosilicate
glass because of its low coefficient of expansion with heat. This makes very precise optical
surfaces possible that change very little with temperature, and matched glass mirror
components that "track" across temperature changes and retain the optical system's
characteristics.
The optical glass most often used for making instrument lenses is Schott BK-7 (or the
equivalent from other makers), a very finely made borosilicate crown glass[citation needed]. It is
also designated as 517642 glass after its 1.517 refractive index and 64.2 Abbe number. Other
less costly borosilicate glasses, such as Schott B270 or the equivalent, are used to make
"crown glass" eyeglass lenses. Ordinary lower-cost borosilicate glass, like that used to make
kitchenware and even reflecting telescope mirrors, cannot be used for high-quality lenses
because of the striations and inclusions common to lower grades of this type of glass. The
maximum working temperature is 515 Fahrenheit (268.3 C). While it transitions to a liquid
starting at 550 degrees Fahrenheit(just before it turns red-hot), it is not workable until it
reaches over 1000 fahrenheit. That means that in order to industrially produce this glass,
oxygen/fuel torches must be used. Glassblowers borrowed technology and techniques from
welders.
Borosilicate is also a material of choice for evacuated tube solar thermal technology, because
of its high strength and heat resistance.
Borosilicate glasses also find application in the semiconductor industry in the development of
microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), as part of stacks of etched silica wafers bonded to
the etched borosilicate glass.
The thermal insulation tiles on the Space Shuttle were coated with a borosilicate glass.[9]
Lighting manufacturers use borosilicate glass in their refractors.
Organic light emitting diode (for display and lighting purposes) also uses borocilicate glass
(BK7). The thicknesses of the BK7 glass substrates are usually less than 1 millimeter for the
OLED fabrication. Due to its optical and mechanical characteristics in relation with cost,
BK7 is a common substrate in OLEDs. However, depending on the application, sodalime
glass substrates of similar thicknesses are also used in OLED fabrication.
Additionally, borosilicate tubing is used as the feedstock for the production of parenteral drug
packaging, such as vials and pre-filled syringes, and is also used for the production of
ampoules and dental cartridges. The chemical resistance of borosilicate glass minimizes the
migration of sodium ions from the glass matrix thus making it well suited for injectable drug
applications. This type of glass is typically referred to as USP / EP JP Type I.

Borosilicate glasses are used for immobilisation and disposal of radioactive wastes. In most
countries high-level radioactive waste has been incorporated into alkali borosilicate or
phosphate vitreous waste forms for many years and vitrification is an established technology.
[10]
Vitrification is a particularly attractive immobilization route because of the high chemical
durability of the vitrified glass product. This characteristic has been used by industry for
centuries.[citation needed] The chemical resistance of glass can allow it to remain in a corrosive
environment for many thousands and even millions of years.

Borosilicate nanoparticles
It was initially thought that borosilicate glass could not be formed into nanoparticles, since an
unstable boron oxide precursor prevented successful forming of these shapes. However, in
2008 a team of researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology at Lausanne were
successful in forming borosilicate nanoparticles of 100 to 500 nanometers in diameter. The
researchers formed a gel of tetraethylorthosilicate and trimethoxyboroxine. When this gel is
exposed to water under proper conditions, a dynamic reaction ensues which results in the
nanoparticles.[11]

In lampworking
Borosilicate, or "boro" (as it is often called), is used extensively in the glassblowing process
lampworking; the glassworker uses a burner torch to melt and form glass, using a variety of
metal and graphite tools to shape it. Borosilicate is referred to as "hard glass" and has a
higher melting point (approximately 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit / 1649 degrees Celsius) than
"soft glass," which is preferred for glassblowing by beadmakers. Raw glass used in
lampworking comes in glass rods for solid work and glass tubes for hollow work tubes and
vessels/containers. Lampworking is used to make complex and custom scientific apparatus;
most major universities have a lampworking shop to manufacture and repair their glassware.
For this kind of "scientific glassblowing", the specifications must be exact and the
glassblower must be highly skilled and able to work with precision. Lampworking is also
done as art and common items made include goblets, paper weights and pendants.

Beadmaking
In recent years, with the resurgence of lampworking as a technique to make handmade glass
beads, boro has become a popular material in many glass artists' studios. Boro for
beadmaking comes in thin, pencil-like rods. Northstar, Momka's Glass, Trautman Art Glass,
and Glass Alchemy are popular manufacturers, although there are other brands available. The
metals used to color boro glass, particularly silver, often create strikingly beautiful and
unpredictable results when melted in an oxygen-gas torch flame. Because it retains heat
longer than soft glass, and because it is stronger than soft glass, boro is particularly suited for
sculpting and creating large beads, including figurines. The tools used for making glass beads
from boro glass are the same as those used for making glass beads from soft glass. Colored
borosilicate lampworking glass is most often considerably more expensive than "soft"
lampworking glass, and this is usually reflected in the selling price of handmade artisan
borosilicate beads and other creations.

References

1.

^ Werner Vogel: "Glass Chemistry"; Springer-Verlag Berlin and Heidelberg

GmbH & Co. K; 2nd revised edition (November 1994), ISBN 3-540-57572-3

2.

^ Pyrex History

3.

^ "Exploding Pyrex". Retrieved 2009-10-27.

4.

^ "What is Borosilicate Glass?". qorpak.com. Retrieved 2012-11-02.

5.

^ "Borosilicato". refmexgl.com. Retrieved 2012-11-02.

6.

^ Weissler, G. L. (1979). Vacuum Physics and Technology (2 ed.). Academic

Press. p. 315. ISBN 978-0-12-475914-5.

7.

^ "Toy Materials". Kinsey Institute. Kinsey Confidential. Retrieved 30

September 2012.

8.

^ danK. "Glass Industry: Then and Now" Glass Aficionado 2008: Issue 1 Print
Page 54

9.

^ "SPACE SHUTTLE ORBITER SYSTEMS THERMAL PROTECTION

SYSTEM". Retrieved 2009-07-15.

10.

^ M. I. Ojovan and W.E. Lee. An Introduction to Nuclear Waste

Immobilisation, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 315pp. (2005)

11.

^ Chemical & Engineering News Vol. 86 No. 37, 15 September 2008,

"Making Borosilicate nanoparticles is now possible", p. 35

External links
Look up Borosilicate glass in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Borosilicate glass

REFMEX GL Borosilicate Glass

- Corning Glass Product PDF

Material Properties Data: Borosilicate Glass

Properties of SCHOTT DURAN Borosilicate Glass - Overview

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