Vitrification

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
A vitrification experiment.

Vitrification (from Latin vitreum, "glass" via French vitrifier) is the transformation of a substance into a glass,[1] that is to say a non-crystalline amorphous solid. In ceramics it gives impermeability to water.[2]

Description

Vitrification is characteristic for amorphous materials or disordered systems and occurs when bonding between elementary particles (atoms, molecules, forming blocks) becomes higher than a certain threshold value.[3] Thermal fluctuations break the bonds; therefore, the lower the temperature, the higher the degree of connectivity. Because of that amorphous materials have a characteristic threshold temperature termed glass transition temperature (Tg): below Tg amorphous materials are glassy whereas above Tg they are molten.

Usually, it is achieved by rapidly cooling a liquid through the glass transition. Certain chemical reactions also result in glasses. An important application is the vitrification of an antifreeze-like liquid in cryopreservation.

In a wider sense, the embedding of material in a glassy matrix is also called vitrification. An important application is the vitrification of radioactive waste to obtain a stable compound that is suitable for ultimate disposal.

In ceramics

Vitrification is the progressive partial fusion of a clay, or of a body, as a result of a firing process. As vitrification proceeds the proportion of glassy bond increases and the apparent porosity of the fired product becomes progressively lower.[4][5] Vitreous bodies have open porosity, and may be either opaque or translucent. In this context 'zero porosity'; may be defined as less than 1% water absorption. However, various standard procedures define the conditions of water absorption. [6][7][8] An example is by ASTM, who state "The term vitreous generally signifies less than 0.5 % absorption. except for floor and wall tile and low-voltage electrical insulators which are considered vitreous up to 3 % water absorption."[9]

Glazing alone does not make pottery impermeable to water. Porcelain, bone china and sanitaryware are examples of vitrified pottery, and are impermeable even without glaze. Stoneware may be vitrified or semi-vitrified, the latter type would not be impermeable without glaze.[10][11][12]

Examples

When sucrose is cooled slowly it results in crystal sugar (or rock candy), but when cooled rapidly it can form syrupy cotton candy (candyfloss). In the process of vitrification the solid waste is exposed to heat and is converted into a sort of glass-like substance.

Vitrification can also occur when starting with a liquid such as water, usually through very rapid cooling or the introduction of agents that suppress the formation of ice crystals. This is in contrast to ordinary freezing which results in ice crystal formation. Additives used in cryobiology or produced naturally by organisms living in polar regions are called cryoprotectants.

Arctic frogs and some other ectotherms naturally produce glycerol or glucose in their livers to reduce ice formation. When glucose is used as a cryoprotectant by arctic frogs, massive amounts of glucose are released at low temperature and a special form of insulin allows for this extra glucose to enter the cells. When the frog rewarms during spring, the extra glucose must be rapidly eliminated, but stored. Arctic insects also use sugars as cryoprotectants. Arctic fish use antifreeze proteins, sometimes appended with sugars, as cryoprotectants.

Applications

Ordinary soda-lime glass, used in windows and drinking containers, is created by the addition of sodium carbonate and lime (calcium oxide) to silicon dioxide. Without these additives silicon dioxide will require very high temperature to obtain a melt and subsequently (with slow cooling) a glass.

Vitrification is a proven technique in the disposal and long-term storage of nuclear waste or other hazardous wastes[13] in a method called geomelting. Waste is mixed with glass-forming chemicals in a furnace to form molten glass that then solidifies in canisters, thereby immobilizing the waste. The final waste form resembles obsidian and is a non-leaching, durable material that effectively traps the waste inside. The waste can be stored for relatively long periods in this form without concern for air or groundwater contamination. Bulk vitrification uses electrodes to melt soil and wastes where they lay buried. The hardened waste may then be disinterred with less danger of widespread contamination. According to the Pacific Northwest National Labs, "Vitrification locks dangerous materials into a stable glass form that will last for thousands of years."[14]

Ethylene glycol is used as automotive antifreeze and propylene glycol has been used to reduce ice crystals in ice cream, making it smoother.

Vitrification in cryopreservation is used as a common method to preserve, for example, human egg cells (oocytes) (in oocyte cryopreservation) and embryos (in embryo cryopreservation). For years, glycerol has been used in cryobiology as a cryoprotectant for blood cells and bull sperm, allowing storage at liquid nitrogen temperatures. However, glycerol cannot be used to protect whole organs from damage. Instead, many biotechnology companies are researching the development of other cryoprotectants more suitable for such uses. A successful discovery may eventually make possible the bulk cryogenic storage (or "banking") of transplantable human and xenobiotic organs. A substantial step in that direction has already occurred. Twenty-First Century Medicine has vitrified a rabbit kidney to -135 °C with their proprietary vitrification cocktail. Upon rewarming, the kidney was successfully transplanted into a rabbit, with complete functionality and viability, able to sustain the rabbit indefinitely as the sole functioning kidney.[15]

Currently, vitrification techniques have only been applied to brains (neurovitrification) by Alcor and to the upper body by the Cryonics Institute, but research is in progress by both organizations to apply vitrification to the whole body.

See also

References

  1. A.K. Varshneya. Fundamentals of inorganic glasses. Sheffield: Society of Glass Technology, 2006.
  2. Arthur Dodd & David Murfin. Dictionary of Ceramics; 3rd edition. The Institute of Minerals, 1994.
  3. M.I. Ojovan, W.E. Lee. Connectivity and glass transition in disordered oxide systems J. Non-Cryst. Solids, 356, 2534-2540 (2010).
  4. Arthur Dodd & David Murfin. Dictionary of Ceramics; 3rd edition. The Institute of Minerals, 1994.
  5. 'Role Of Accessory Minerals On The Vitrification Of Whiteware Compositions.' N.M.Ghoneim; E.H.Sallam; D.M. Ebrahim. Ceram.Int. 16. No.1. 1990.
  6. Whitewares: Production, Testing and Quality Control. William Ryan & Charles Radford. Institute of Materials, 1997
  7. 'Methods Of Extending The Narrow Vitrification Range Of Clays.' E.V. Glass & Ceramics 36, (8), 450, 1979.
  8. 'Control Of Optimum Vitrification In Vitreous And Porcelain Bodies.' E.Signorini. Ceram.Inf. 26. No.301. 1991
  9. ASTM C242-01. 'Standard Terminology Of Ceramic Whitewares and Related Products'.
  10. 'Body Builders.' J.Ahmed. Asian Ceramics. June 2014
  11. Arthur Dodd & David Murfin. Dictionary of Ceramics; 3rd edition. The Institute of Minerals, 1994.
  12. 'An Introduction To The Technology Of Pottery.' Paul Rado, Institute of Ceramics. 1988.
  13. M.I. Ojovan, W.E. Lee. Glassy wasteforms for nuclear waste immobilisation. Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, 42 (4), 837-851 (2011).
  14. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.