Compositional Design of High-Strength Crack-Resistant Calcium Boroaluminosilicate Glasses

• Grant number: 25/03777-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: July 01, 2025
• End date: December 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Condensed Matter Physics
• Principal Investigator: José Fabián Schneider
• Grantee: Yara Hellen Firmo Gomes
• Supervisor: Andrea Simone Stucchi de Camargo Alvarez Bernardez
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física de São Carlos (IFSC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Bundesanstalt Für Materialforschung Und -Prüfung, Germany
• Associated to the scholarship: 23/16387-3 - Solid-State NMR Structural Characterization of Phase-Separated Borosilicate Glasses: Relation to Fracture Toughness., BP.MS

Abstract

The objective of the research project is driven by the quest for structure-function correlations in the area of high-strength calcium aluminosilicate glasses. The student will prepare, characterize and measure key mechanical properties (elastic constants, dynamical mechanical properties, and crack initiation resistances) of glasses and conduct solid-state NMR and Raman spectroscopic experiments to rationalize these properties at the level of their short- and medium range order. The information obtained by this work will enhance the fundamental knowledge in this research area and support the machine-learning driven design of future vitreous materials with optimized mechanical properties, taking advantage of the robotic melting facility at BAM.