Hydrated Na2O–B2O3–SiO2 glass prepared by colloid chemistry method

• Colloid chemistry method is used to prepare hydrated Na2O–B2O3–SiO2 glass.
• Sodium silicate solution and H3BO3 used as precursor and the source of boron
• The hydrated Na2O–B2O3–SiO2 glass has a relatively good chemical durability.
• Tg of the hydrated glass increases with the decrease of the water content.
• The hydrated glass powder can be transformed into a lightweight insulating board.

In this paper, the hydrated Na2O–B2O3–SiO2 glass was prepared by colloid chemistry method, sodium silicate solution and boric acid as raw materials. The high viscosity transparent Na2O–B2O3–SiO2 colloid was drawn from the solution in the course of mixing, after drying in the oven at 60–200 °C for 24 h, the hard and transparent hydrated glass was obtained. The effect of drying temperature and B2O3 content was studied. The phase composition and thermal parameters were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction and thermal analysis. It was found that the temperature of glass transition (Tg) of this kind of glass increased along with the increase of the drying temperature and the durability of this glass increased with B2O3 content. The hydrated Na2O–B2O3–SiO2 glass could be dried to give amorphous solids, so it might have broad application prospects in the lightweight thermal insulation material field.