Acoustic velocity measurements on Na2O–TiO2–SiO2 liquids: Evidence for a highly compressible TiO2 component related to five-coordinated Ti

Longitudinal acoustic velocities were measured at 1 bar in 10 Na2O–TiO2–SiO2 (NTS) liquids for which previous density and thermal expansion data are reported in the literature. Data were collected with a frequency-sweep acoustic interferometer at centered frequencies of 4.5, 5, and 6 MHz between 1233 and 1896 K; in all cases, the sound speeds decrease with increasing temperature. Six of the liquids have a similar TiO2 concentration (∼25 mol %), so that the effect of varying Na/Si ratio on the partial molar compressibility of the TiO2 component can be evaluated. Theoretically based models for βT and (∂V/∂P)T as a function of composition and temperature are presented. As found previously for the partial molar volume of TiO2(V¯TiO2) in sodium silicate melts, values of β¯T,TiO2 (13.7–18.8 × 10−2/GPa) vary systematically with the Na/Si and Na/(Si + Ti) ratio in the liquid. In contrast values of β¯i,T for the SiO2 and Na2O components (6.6 and 8.0 × 10−2/GPa, respectively, at 1573 K) are independent of composition. Na2O is the only component that contributes to the temperature dependence of the compressibility of NTS liquids (1.13 ± 0.04 × 10−4/GPa K). The results further indicate that the TiO2 component is twice as compressible as the Na2O and SiO2 components. The enhanced compressibility of TiO2 appears to be related to the abundance of five-coordinated Ti ([5]Ti) in these liquids, but not with a change in Ti coordination. Instead, it is proposed that the asymmetric geometry of [5]Ti in a square pyramidal site promotes different topological rearrangements in alkali titanosilicate liquids, which lead to the enhanced compressibility of TiO2.