Structure and Properties of Hyperquenched Glasses

Our recent research has lead to the outline of a thermodynamic method to describe glass and melt structures. The work has already attracted international recognition. The aims of the proposed research project are to enhance the understanding of dynamics in glass melt and to study the compositional influence on the structural development in glass during forming and cooling by use of the newly developed method. Specifically we want to study how the structures of the glass influence the mechanical, optical, and physical-chemical properties. In the longer perspective, it will provide a strong basis for the glass technologists to design glasses with superior performances, e.g. stronger or more flexible fibres. Our studies will be focused on rapidly cooled inorganic glass fibres with different chemical compositions. The backbone of our experimental work is differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) measurements. We cooperate with external partners on structural characterisation by means of neutron scattering, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), atomic force microscope (AFM) and Neutron Scattering method and by measuring physical properties (e.g. tensile strength of the fibres).