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<a href="https://www.chinaborosilicateglass.com/borosilicate-glass/">Borosilicate
Glass</a> is a specialized form of glass that uses boric acid as a component in its
fabrication. The result of the addition of the element boron is a type of glass that
is very resistant to thermal shock and exhibits a much lower coefficient of thermal
expansion than that of common silicate glass. In this article, a review of
borosilicate glass will be presented, including its development, properties, and
uses.
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<strong>Development of Borosilicate Glass</strong>
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Back in 1882, a German chemist named Otto Schott was interested in experimenting
with ways to create glass that had the ability to withstand sudden changes in
temperature or exposure to uneven temperatures without shattering. In that year, he
made the discovery that ushered in the creation of the <a
href="https://www.chinaborosilicateglass.com/borosilicate-glass/borosilicate-glass-
tube/">Borosilicate Glass Tube</a>. Schott discovered that the addition of the
element Boron to the glass fabrication process resulted in a heat-resistant form of
glass.
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Later work by chemists W.C. Taylor and Eugene Sullivan at Corning Glass refined
the efforts of Otto Schott and expanded the temperature resistant properties of
borosilicate glass. As a result of these innovations, customized glass fabrication
grew, where there is now over a million different formulations of glass that can be
customized for specific product needs by enhancing the desired physical and
mechanical properties of glass.
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Perhaps the most well-known application for borosilicate glass grew from further
research at Corning Glass. After joining the company in 1914, physicist Jesse
Littleton was given the task of testing and evaluating the physical properties of the
newly created glass formulation. After his wife’s ceramic casserole dish
accidentally broke, she suggested that perhaps this newly developed heat resistant
glass might prove to be a useful product for baking. After she tested the notion by
baking a cake in a sample glass container that Littleton had brought home, a new use
for <a href="https://www.chinaborosilicateglass.com/borosilicate-glass/borosilicate-
glass-rod/">Borosilicate Glass Rod</a> was born – glass cookware. Corning Glass
introduced a line of products known as Pyrex®[1], which was for many years of its
manufacturing run produced using borosilicate glass.
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<strong>Properties of Borosilicate Glass</strong>
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Borosilicate glass is generally chemically resistant, but perhaps its most
remarkable physical property is its low coefficient of thermal expansion, which
explains why the glass can resist shattering under sudden rapid changes in
temperature. Glass generally is a poor conductor of heat, so when you take hot glass
and immerse it in cold water, the exterior of the glass cools rapidly while the
interior does not. The stresses caused by the temperature differential cause the
glass to shatter.
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With <a href="https://www.chinaborosilicateglass.com/borosilicate-
glass/borosilicate-glass-solar-vacuum-tube/">Borosilicate Glass Solar Vacuum
Tube</a>, the addition of boric acid (H3BO3) to the formulation results in a glass
that has a low coefficient of thermal expansion, which means that when the glass is
heated or cooled, it does not expand or contract very much. This dimensional
stability is what enables borosilicate glass to be capable of withstanding rapid and
extreme temperature changes without cracking.
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The chemical composition of borosilicate glass typically consists of around 81%
silicon dioxide (SiO2) and 13% boron trioxide (B2O3) with lesser concentrations of
sodium oxide and aluminum oxide. (Note that the concentrations of boric oxide can
vary, 5-13% is typical). The element Boron is what provides the glass with its
dimensional stability so that the material doesn’t shrink or grow as the temperature
to which it is exposed changes.
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