Effect of Additive ZrO2 on Spinodal Phase Separation and Pore Distribution of Borosilicate Glasses

Sodium borosilicate porous glasses arising from spinodal phase separation are promising functional materials for separation membranes, enzyme and catalyst supports, and photonic materials. The present paper studied the effect of the additive of ZrO2 on the spinodal phase separation and pore distribution of the sodium borosilicate glasses using 11B nuclear magnetic resonance spectrum, 29Si nuclear magnetic resonance spectrum, mercury measurement, and nitrogen adsorption techniques. The experimental results showed that ZrO2 inhibited both the initiation process in early stage and the coarsening process in later stage of the spinodal phase separation. The pore volume was found to decrease slightly with the addition of ZrO2 at the beginning. However, when ZrO2 content > 7 mass%, the pore volume decreases dramatically with further addition of ZrO2. 65% of the pore volume in the sample without addition of ZrO2 will be lost when the addition amount of ZrO2 increases from 0 to 10 mass%. The inhibition effect on t...