Mechanisms for Alkali Leaching in Mixed-Na-K Silicate Glasses

The kinetics of alkali removal from (1-X) Na2O·XK2O·3SiO2 glasses were studied using pH stat titration techniques, solution analyses, and elemental depth profiling by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry and elastic recoil detection. In the first stage of leaching (t1/2 kinetics), the interdiffusion coefficients measured for the exchange of alkali cations by H3O+ are orders of magnitude greater than the alkali diffusion coefficients in bulk glass and show no evidence of the mixed-alkali effect. At longer times, the rate of alkali removal becomes constant with time, but selective alkali leaching is still observed rather than uniform dissolution. These results support a model where the rate determining step for alkali leaching is the rate at which molecular water diffuses into the glass