Silica-based glass is a very old material, with the technology of synthetic glass production thought to date back to ca. 3000 BCE. Of course, this glass technology was not discovered fully fashioned, but grew slowly through continued development of both chemical composition and techniques for its production, manipulation, and material applications. Most early glasses in the western world consisted of various soda-lime-silica compositions that depended upon the specific raw materials used. However, the composition of these glasses was usually more complex than suggested by this simple description. Besides the primary components of silica, flux, and stabilizer, these glasses also contained other minor constituents, both intentional and unintentional, that effected the subsequent properties of the glass. One such important property that was dictated by such minor constituents was the color and transparency of the resulting glass. The historical evolution of the control of color in early silica glasses will be presented, from early opaque colored glasses to the eventual successful production of colorless transparent material. In the process, the various coloring agents (both intentional and unintentional) employed during this evolution will be discussed, along with the application of decolorizing agents to remove various unwanted color contributions.

Boon or bane? Color and transparency in early silica glass

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.