PAPERS

Water in vitreous silica Part 2: Some aspects of hydrogen-watersilica equilibria

T. Bell, G. Hetherington & K. H. Jack
The Thermal Syndicate Linlited, Wallsend When 'water'fie vitreous silica is heated irz dry hydrogen, silicon-hj~droxyl(-Si-OH) grozps are produced in the solid and the hydroxyl concentration gradient is related to the rate of diffusion of hydrogen in silica. The equilibrium concentration of hydroxyl introduced by this reaction is proportional to the square root of the partial pressure of molecular hydrogen and is of the same order of magnitude as previously published values for the so-called's~l~~bi1ity of hydrogen9in vitreous silica. When hydroxyl-containing vitreous silica is heated in a closed evacuated system, hydrogen as well as water is evolved. These observations suggest the existence of the equilibrium : Si4+ 202Hz + Si3+ 02OH1stoichiometric reduced silica silica with hydroxyl ' Watery-freevitreous silica is normally produced in a partially reduced state. It absorbs in the ultm-violet at 2425 A and it exhibitsJIuorescence. When heated in an oxidizing atmosphere the absorption band and the fluorescence disappear slowly at a rate which is determined by the d~ffusionof oxygen through the solid. However, non-stoichiometric vitreous silica which also contains hydroxyl is oxidized much more rapidly and at a rate which is independent of the nature of the szlrrounding atmosphere. In this case the oxidation mechanism is that shown by the reverse reaction of the above equilibrium and in which the oxidizing species (hydroxyl groups) are present throughout the solid. The rate of oxidation is then governed not by dzffusion of oxygen but by diffusion and removal of hydrogen. The existence of a hydrogen-water-silica equilibrium accounts for other previously unexplained features of the behaviour of vitreous silica at elevated temperatures.
Although the equilibrium solubility of hydroxyl in vitreous silica depends at a given temperature upon the partial pressure of water vapour in the surrounding atmosphere,(l*2) it seemed possible that 'water' solubility might also depend on the nature of the siliconoxygen lattice, and particularly on its state of oxidation or reduction. Reaction of hydrogen with hydroxyl-free vitreous silica Experiments were first made with I.R. Vitreosil, that is, with the material containing almost zero hydroxyl and made by electrical fusing of quartz crystal. Specimens of different thicknesses were heated in pure dry hydrogen at 800C and at 1050C for varying times and without exposing them to any water vapour it was found that the hydroxyl concentration, as measured by the optical density at 2-73 y, steadily increased. Figure 1 shows that at each temperature the optical density per mm reaches a constant value independent of the specimen thickness. This corresponds to an equilibrium hydroxyl solubility. These solubilities are small; for example at 800C the observed optical density of 0.018 mm-I is equivalent to only 0.0018 wt. % (-OH) and at 1050C the hydroxyl content is only 0.00165 wt. %. Nevertheless, such concentrations can be measured accurately by allowing thick specimens to come to equilibrium over a long time since the final total absorption at 2-7 y is then quite large. By removing successive slices from a thick specimen after treatment with hydrogen for only a relatively short time, the hydroxyl concentration gradient shown in Figure 2 was obtained. Although the curve is sigmoidal and thus suggests that the diffusivity varies with concentration, the total hydroxyl content after short-time hydrogen treatment is small and can not be

++

Physics and Chemistry of Glasses Vol. 3 No. 5 October 1962

T . BELL, G . H E T H E R I N G T O N A N D K . H . J A C K : WATER I N VITREOUS SILICA. P A R T 2

0.020 0.015

Table 1. DzfSusivities o 'hydrogen' and 'water', both f producing hydroxyl in vitreous silica
1. Diffusivity of 'hydrogen', producing hydroxyl: -15 800 D = 9.5 x exp 2 cm2 s-1 RT Specimen heated in dry (02 free) hydrogen at 800C
2. Diffusivity of 'water' in silica: -18 300 D = 1.0 x exp A cm2 s-I RT

Specimen heated in dry ( 0 2 free) hydrogen at 1050C

.ol
0

10

20

30

40 50 Time (h)

60

70

80

90 106

Figure 1. Hydroxyl concentration for different thicknesses of 1.R. Vitreosil after heating at 800 and 1050" C in hydrogen

measured, particularly after removing successive thin slices, with sufficient accuracy to make unequivocal deductions about the diffusion profile. It is assumed throughout the work that the diffusion constant is independent of concentration and so all calculated diffusivities represent average values. A plot of the total optical density against J t gives a straight line (see Figure 3) and again suggests that the production of hydroxyl in the silica must be diffusioncontrolled. It will be noticed from Figure 3, however, that had this same specimen been exposed to a partial pressure of water vapour at 1050C to give the same equilibrium concentration of hydroxyl(0.00165 wt. %) then the rate of hydroxyl formation, as calculated from Moulson's & Roberts' results,(1) would have been negligible. In other words, in the hydrogen reaction the

diffusing species is not the same as for the reaction of water with silica although both reactions produce silicon-hydroxyl groups. From the large number of data on thin and thick specimens the diffusion constant at each temperature and its activation energy were calculated. The results given in Table 1 show that in the temperature range from 800 to 1050C the diffusivities are almost ten thousand times greater than those for 'water' in vitreous silica. The dependence of the equilibrium hydroxyl concentration on hydrogen pressure was investigated by exposing thick specimens of I.R. Vitreosil to hydrogen at different pressures from 28 mm to 760 mm and at the two temperatures 800 and 1050"C . Figure 4 shows that the hydroxyl solubility at each temperature is proportional to the square root of the hydrogen pressure and so suggests the existence of the reaction equilibrium: $Hz ?+ +Hz -0- + -OH gas dissolved silica hydroxyl Since infra-red methods allow the determination of only the concentration of hydroxyl hydrogen it is impossible to estimate the amount of dissolved molecular

line represents curve

0
Thickness (mm)

4 5 6 (Time in h)f

- . Jd - : . = . .
7 8 9

level of hydroxyl at 1050C (Moulson & Roberts('))

,
1 0

Figure 2. Hydroxyl diffusionprofile for hydrogen treatment of I. R. Vitreosil for 15 h at 1050" C

142 Physics and Chemistry of Classes Vol. 3 No. 5 October 1962

Figure 3. Variation of total hydroxyl content (optical density at 2.73 p ) with Jt for thick I.R. Vitreosil specimens heated at 800 and 1050" C in hydrogen at atmospheric pressure

T . BELL, G . HETHERINGTON A N D K . H . JACK : WATER I N VITREOUS SILICA. P A R T 2

Table 2. DlfSusivities of 'hydrogen' at dlfSerent pressures producing hydroxyl by reaction with I. R. Vitreosil at 800" and 1050" C
Hydrogen pressure mm Hg Diffusivity, en12s-l 800"C 1050"C

(Hydrogen pressure in mm Hg)f

Figure 4. The variation with hydrogen pressure of the equilibrium optical density per mm at 2.73 p for. I.R. Vitreosil heated in hydrogen at 800 and 10.50" C

hydrogen. It is hoped that future work using tritium techniques in combination with infra-red methods will solve this problem. At all hydrogen pressures so far examined the hydroxyl concentration increases linearly with , / t (see Figure 5) again indicating that the process is diffusioncontrolled. The diffusivities for entry of hydrogen at different pressures to give hydroxyl, and calculated from these observations, are listed in Table 2 and are in remarkable agreement with one another at each of the two temperatures. It seems that the same diffusion mechanism must operate at all pressures up to atmospheric.

The heat of solution of 'hydrogen' in silica to give hydroxyl is very similar to the heat of solution of 'water'. Respective values derived from solubility data are -2 and -6 kcal/mole; see Table 3. This is not too surprising since the difference between the bond energies hydrogen-hydrogen (103 kcal) and hydrogenhydroxyl (1 10 kcal) is only 7 kcal/mole. If the very fast diffusing species which controls the rate of formation of hydroxyl in hydrogen-treated silica is molecular hydrogen, then the values given in Table 1 should be comparable with previously published results for the diffusion of hydrogen in silica. Moreover, it seems possible that results of previous determinations of the solubility of hydrogen in silica are, in fact, solubilities of hydroxyl. There are no extensive data for either the diffusivity or the solubility of hydrogen in silica at high temperatures. For example Barrer's resultd3) are extrapolated from observations in the temperature range 200500C. However, it can be seen from Table 4 that the present diffusivity results agree within an order of magnitude with his. Furthermore, the present solubilities for 'hydrogen' which is now shown to be present
Table 3. Heats of solution per mole of hydrogen and of water at 800-1050" C in vitreous silica, each producing hydroxyl and each at one atmosphere pressure; values derived from solubility data H~ -t 2 Si4+..,022- 2 Si3+...02- (0H)l-+ ...
(Hz -+ 2 OH) ( A H ) # = -2 kcal/mole-l
H 2 0 2 Si4+...022- S ~ Z ~ + . . . O ~ ~ - . . . ( O H ) Z ~ -+ (Hz0 + 2 OH) ( A H ) , = -6 k ~ a l / m o l e - ~

Table 4. DifSusivity and solubility of 'hydrogen' in vitreous silica

Diffusivity of 'hydrogen', cm2 s-1 700"C 800"C 900C 1000"C
Barrer@) Present work (Time in h)f 0.6 2.7 1.0 5.3 1.5 10.8 2.1 x 10-7 18.4 x 10-7

Figure 5. The variation with time of the total optical density at 2.73 p for thick specimens of I.R. Vitreosil heated in hydrogen at different pressures
Physics and Chemistry of Glasses Vol. 3 No. 5 October 1962

Solubility of 'hydrogen', cm3 (N.T.P.) em-3 SiOz 700"C 800"C 900"C 1000"C
Wiistnerc4) Present work 10 27 11 26 10 25 l o x lo4 24 x 10-3

143

T . BELL, G . HETHERINGTON AND K . H . J A C K : W A T E R IN VITREOUS SILICA. PART 2

Table 5. Permeability of 'hydrogen' in vitreous silica, cm3 (N.T.P.).mm s ~ r n - ~ Hg-I l cm

600"C 700"C 800" C 900" C 1000C

Barrer (1941)(3) Norton (1953)(5) Altemose (1961)@) Present work

14 13 23 31

25 21 (39) 73

(71) 138

43

271

64

100x 10-10 x 10-10 - x 10-lo 442x10-'0

as hydroxyl, are in reasonable agreement with the accepted solubilities(4) for what was previously assumed to be dissolved molecular hydrogen. There are more recent results for the permeability of hydrogen in silica and these are compared in Table 5 with values calculated from diffusivities and solubilities observed in the present work. The agreement is sufficient to conclude that dissolved molecular hydrogen in silica exists substantially as silicon-hydroxyl groups and that the diffusing species, whatever they are, are very much more mobile than those involved in the diffusion of 'water' through silica. The reaction between hydrogen and silica can be represented as a chemical reduction in which, for every hydroxyl produced, one silicon atom changes its valency state from 4+ to 3+; see Figure 6, which is intended merely as a diagrammatic representation of the reaction of hydrogen with the silica structure. It is clear that an equilibrium must exist and that the reverse reaction must also occur.

6x hydroxyls formed by complete reaction of hydrogen with I.R. Vitreosil at the same temperature. In the first case the amount of hydrogen evolved and in the second case the amount of hydrogen dissolved are - determined ultimately by the extent to which silica can be reduced. This chemical reduction can be represented as a departure from the stoichiometric composition S~OZ,o that the above results correspond s with a non-stoichiometry SiOz-, where the values of x are respectively 1 x and 3 x oxygen atoms.

Hydrogen produced from hydroxyl-containing vitreous silica To explore this latter possibility a known amount of O.G. Vitreosil was heated in a vacuum. It will be remembered that this type of vitreous silica contains a relatively high hydroxyl concentration, 0-04wt. %, and is also in a chemically reduced state. At 1050"C both hydrogen and water were evolved, but by condensing out the water in a liquid-oxygen-cooled trap the hydrogen was allowed to build up in the closed system and the final hydrogen pressure corresponded to about 2 x 10-4 atoms/mole of SiOz. This agrees as closely as can be expected with the observed concentration of

The oxidation of vitreous silica There is even more convincing evidence of the occurrence of the reaction by which hydroxyl reacts within silica to give hydrogen. As normally produced, vitreous silica containing no hydroxyl is in a chemically reduced state. It absorbs strongly at about 2400 A in the ultra-violet and reemits this absorbed energy as a visible fluorescence. The absorption and the fluorescence can be regarded as measures of the degree of reduction, and on heating the silica in an oxidizing atmosphere they are removed slowly at a rate which is probably determined by the diffusion of oxygen through the solid. A non-stoichiometric silica which also contains a high hydroxyl concentration, for example O.G. Vitreosil, is oxidized much more rapidly than one containing no water, for example I.R. Vitreosil. Figure 7 compares the rates of disappearance of the absorption bands of O.G. and I.R. Vitreosils when t heated at 1050C in a vacuum. T is observed that for O.G. material the oxidation is complete after 85 h

- -SiJ+ 202-

++Hz

Si3f 02OHreduced silica with hydroxyl

stoichiornetric silica

hydrogen

2000

2500
Wavelength

3000

2000

2500
Wavelength

3000

(A)

(A)

Figure 6. The reaction of hydrogen with vitreous silica

144 Physics and Chemistry of Glasses Vol. 3 No. 5 October I962

Figure 7. Oxidation of vitreous silica

T. BELL, G. HETHERINGTON AND K. H . JACK : WATER I N VITREOUS SILICA. PART 2

form hydroxyl. At this temperature the removal of hydroxyl as water from vitreous silica with a high 'water' content is very much slower and gives an apparent diffusivity of 3.8 x 10-lo cm2 s-l. A number of specimens of I.R. Vitreosil of different thicknesses varying from 2 to 20 mm were saturated with hydroxyl (0.00165 wt. %-OH) by reaction with hydrogen at 760 mm and 1050C. These were then
Vacuum Air A .... ..........A Nitrosell
0-----0

X -

Air and steam

I
1

I.R.

60 80 100 Time (h) Figure 8. Rate o f oxidatiorz on heat-treatnfent oJ O.G. and I.R. Vitreosils at 10.50' C in various atnlospheres

whereas there is scarcely any change in the I.R. Vitreosil even after 562 h. The curves of Figure 8 show rates of oxidation for O.G. Vitreosil heated in a variety of atmospheres (oxygen, nitrogen, steam, and vacuum) and within experinlental error they are nearly identical. From these curves the calculated diffusivities at 1050C are all within the range 2.2 x to 2-7x 10-6 cm2 s-1 which is exactly the same as the diffusivity of 'hydrogen' to produce hydroxyl (2.35x 10-6 cm2 s-1, see Table I). It is concluded that the oxidation of a reduced silica which also contains a high hydroxyl concentration takes place by reaction of the hydroxyl to give hydrogen, OH + 0 +Hz, and that the rate is governed by the outward diffusion and removal of hydrogen.

Oxidation by diffusion and removal of hydrogen present initidly as hydroxyl The most significant experiment was that carried out on an I.R. Vitreosil specimen which had previously been treated, almost to completion, with hydrogen at 1050C to give a total optical density, due to hydroxyl, of 0.261 for a pathlength of about 18 mm. This specimen was then heated in air at 1050"C and after 74 h the optical density was found to be reduced to 0.1 15. This rate of disappearance of hydroxyl corresponds to a diffusivity of 0.8 x 10-6 cn12 s-1 and is in fair agree10-6 cm2 s-1 for the ment with the value of 2 . 3 5 ~ penetration of hydrogen at the same temperature to
Physics and Chemistry of Glasses Vol. 3 No. 5 October 1962

Figure 9. Growth of bubbles in Spectrosil

T. BELL, G . H E T H E R I N G T O N A N D K. H . JACK : WATER I N VITREOUS SILICA. P A R T 2

Table 6. Di~usivities the removal of 'hydrogen7 for from I.R. Vitreosil specimens previously saturated with hydroxyl by complete reaction with hydrogen at 760 mm and 1050" C
Specimen thickness mm DiJJusivity,em2 s-l in air in vacuo 0.3 x 10-6 0.6 x 10-6 0.6 x 10-6 1.1 x 10-6 0.8 x 10-6 1-5x 10-6 0.6 x 10-6 0.9 x 10-6 1.3 x 10-6 1.5 x 10-6 2-0 x 10-6

heat-treated at 1050C in air and also in vacuum and the reduction in hydroxyl concentration was followed by infra-red absorption measurements at 2.73 p. As shown in Table 6 , the calculated diffusivities were independent within experimental error of thickness and of the atmosphere and had values all within the range 0.3-2.1 x 10-6 cm2 s-1. The results of the present investigation show, therefore, that the reaction of hydrogen with silica is reversible and that it occurs in the solid at rates which, for both directions, are governed by the diffusivity of hydrogen.

reduced silica the hydrogen which is produced normally diffuses to the solid surface. A nucleus within the solid acts as an internal surface and so a hydrogen bubble, when once it is nucleated, continues to grow. Spectrosil shows no absorption at 2400 A and no fl~o~escence because it is self-oxidized as rapidly as it is formed. However, by creating a very steep hydroxyl concentration gradient near the surface of Spectrosil, for example by heating it in a vacuum, fluorescence can be induced. The rapid removal of hydroxyl Si4++202-+*HZ -+ Si3++02- OH1shifts the equilibrium in such a way as to increase the concentration of 'reduced' silica.

Practical aspects of the hydrogen-hydroxyl-silica equilibrium The existence of a hydrogen-hydroxyl-silica equilibrium accounts for several previously unexplained features in the behaviour of vitreous silica. For example in the manufacture of Spectrosil, the material which has the highest hydroxyl concentration, bubbles are occasionally produced. In the plastic range these bubbles continue to grow and internal pressures of several atmospheres are developed (see Figure 9). Mass spectrographic analysis shows that these bubbles consist of pure hydrogen. By reaction of hydroxyl with

Added note We are obliged to the Referee for his suggestion that reaction of hydrogen with vitreous silica might produce equal numbers of Si-OH and Si-H groups by disruption of one silicon-oxygen link per hydrogen molecule, i.e. Si-0-Si+Hz -+ Si-OH+ H-Si This would also result in the observed linear relationship between the equilibrium hydroxyl concentration and the square root of the pressure of molecular hydrogen. There is no direct evidence for the existence of Si-H links in vitreous silica. References
1. Moulson, A. J. & Roberts, J. P. (1960). Trans. Brit. Cerarn. Soc. 59, 388. 2. Hetherington, G. & Jack, K. H. (1961). To be published in Bull. Soc. Fran~. Cdram. Papers presented at the International Colloquium, Paris, 7 September 1961. 3. Barrer, R. M. (1941). Diffusion in and through Solids. Cambridge University Press. 4. Wiistner, H. (1915). Ann. Phys. 46, 1095. 5. Norton, F. J. (1953). J. Amer. Ceram. Soc. 36.90. 6. Altemose, V. 0. (1961). J . App. Phys. 32, 1309.

146 Pltysics and Chenlistry of Glasses Vol. 3 No. 5 October 1962