Effect of pressure on the refractive index and relative density of the CaO · Al2O3· 6SiO2 glass

Abstract The refractive index for glass of the CaO · Al2O3 · хSiO2 system with х = 6 in the range of pressures up to 6.0 GPa was measured using a polarization-interference microscope and an apparatus with diamond anvils. The changes in the relative density characterizing the compressibility of glass were estimated from the measured refractive indices within the framework of the theory of photoelasticity. The data were compared with the previous data for glasses of the same system with х = 2 and 4. The most compressible of the three glasses in the range 2.0–6.0 GPa was the CaO · Al2O3 · 6SiO2 glass. For glasses with х = 2, 4 and 6 we calculated the degrees of polymerization of silicon–aluminum–oxygen network, NBO/T (NBO – non-bridging oxygen), which are determined as the ratio of the number of gram-ions of non-bridging oxygen atoms to the total number of gram-ions of network formers. The structure–chemical parameter NBO/T was calculated with due regard for the formation of triclusters and highly coordinated aluminum. The degree of polymerization of the CaO · Al2O3 · хSiO2 glasses increases with increasing х, which agrees with the change of their relative density under pressure.