Structure Studies of Silicate Glasses by Raman Spectroscopy

Silicate slags are widely used in many pyrometallurgical processes. The physiochemical properties of the slags, particularly viscosity, are closely related to their internal structures at operating conditions. To fundamentally investigate the correlation between slag structures and viscosities, the glassy samples in SiO2-CaO, SiO2-CaO-MgO and SiO2-CaO-Al2O3 systems were prepared by directly quenching to water. The quenched slags that maintain structures at high temperature were analyzed quantitatively by Raman spectrometer. The appropriate conditions of Raman spectroscopy measurements have been evaluated to obtain a better spectra for quantitative analysis. The proportions of four types of Si with different coordination can be clearly revealed from the analyses of the Raman peaks. The viscosities of the slags are correlated with the changes of the characteristic peak positions and areas.