Zinc coordination environment in zinc silicate glass

The coordination environment of zinc along the ZnO-SiO2 tie-line will be investigated by high real-space resolution neutron diffraction. The samples will be prepared by aerodynamic levitation with laser heating. The glass compositions will range from the silica poor 33 mol% orthosilicate, where there is insufficient silica to form a network, to a silica rich 70 mol%. The strategy is to maximise change to the Zn-O coordination number, which can vary from 4 to 6, i.e., Zn has the capability to transform its identity from a network former to a network modifier. The results will provide unambiguous information on the nature of the local Zn-O coordination environment to aid in the development of realistic atomistic models. The results will also provide benchmarks for establishing the structure of the functional glasses that are created by the addition of network formers such as Al2O3.