Structural characterization of borate glasses by high resolution Solid State NMR techniques

• Grant number: 14/16446-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: November 01, 2014
• End date: January 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Materials and Metallurgical Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Edgar Dutra Zanotto
• Grantee: Jefferson Esquina Tsuchida
• Supervisor: Hellmut Eckert
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Exatas e de Tecnologia (CCET). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Munster, Germany
• Associated to the scholarship: 12/24802-6 - Structure and nucleation mechanisms in oxide glasses: Approach using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, BP.PD

Abstract

The present project addresses the conduct of a research internship in the Institut für Physikalische Chemie, Westfälische Wilhelms - Universität, in Münster, Germany, through the program BEPE - Postdoctoral for a period of 03 months. The aim of this project is the structural characterization of 4 borate glasses and their respective isochemical crystals - using high resolution Solid State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (SSNMR) spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) - and their possible correlation with the nucleation and crystallization mechanisms. This research perfectly complements the postdoctoral work that is in progress, titled Structure and nucleation mechanisms in oxide glasses: A Nuclear Magnetic Resonance approach (FAPESP Process # 2012/24802-6). The German group has produced important works in this particular field and dominates both high resolution NMR techniques and several other experimental techniques for structural characterization of crystalline and glassy systems. Some borate glass compositions, previously defined, will be studied using multinuclear solid state NMR spectroscopy, which is element-selective and sensitive to the local structural environments, and thus can provide valuable insights into the structural arrangement and the spatial distribution of the alkali ions in borate glasses and their possible correlation with the nucleation and crystallization mechanisms. In that way we may significantly contribute to the understanding of the nucleation and crystallization mechanisms in glasses. (AU)