Glass has been used in ornaments and decorations in Thailand for thousands of years, being discovered in several archeological sites and preserved in museums throughout the country. To date only a few of them have been examined by conventional methods for their compositions and colorations. In this work we report for the first time an advanced structural analysis of Thai ancient glass beads using synchrotron X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectrometry. Four samples of ancient glass beads were selected from four different archeological sites in three southern provinces (Ranong, Krabi and Pang-nga) of Thailand. Archaeological dating indicated that they were made more than 1,300 years ago. A historically known method for obtaining a red color is to add compounds containing transition elements such as gold, copper, and chromium. For our samples, EDX spectrometry data revealed existing fractions of iron, copper, zinc, and chromium in ascending order. Thus, copper was selectively studied by XAS as being potentially responsible for the red color in the glass beads. K-shell X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) of copper were recorded in fluorescence mode using an advanced 13-element germanium detector. Comparisons with XANES spectra of reference compounds identified two major forms of copper, monovalent copper and a metallic cluster, dispersed in the glass matrix. The cluster dimension was approximated on the basis of structural modeling and a theoretical XANES calculation. As a complement, EXAFS spectra were analyzed to determine the first-shell coordination around copper. XAS was proven to be an outstanding, advanced technique that can be applied to study nondestructively archaeological objects to understand their characteristics and how they were produced in ancient times.

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Ecological glass with non-toxic was fabricated in bismuth-bearing glass using mainly local quartz sands and various concentration of bismuth oxide. The specific gravity (SG), refractive index (RI), thermal expansion coefficient (CoE) and hardness (HV) were determined. It was found that the values of SG, RI and HV were increased linearly as the increasing of bismuth oxide, whiles that of CoE was decreased. This glass is environmentally friendly materials.

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Lead-based glass samples were fabricated in a laboratory scale using quartz sands that was a by-product of feldspar floatation in Tak Province, northern Thailand, and 20-wt% commercial-grade PbO as the main compositions. A CdS/Se compound of ratios ranging from 1:1 to 1:10 was doped into the glass mixture. The dried powders were well mixed in a ceramic crucible before being melted in an electric furnace at a maximum temperature of 1100°C for 4 hours. Transparent and bubble-free glass samples were resulted after cooling down to room temperature. It was found that the glass colors were changed from colorless to reddish brown by the addition of CdS/Se compound. Physical properties of the samples, such as, color, specific gravity, and refractive index were studied. Specific gravity and refractive index increased with increasing ratio of CdS/Se. UV-VIS-NIR spectra were measured and discussed.

The dielectric constant values of a set of synthetic alpha alumina samples doped with Cr and Be were determined using parallel plate method. The voltage frequency was selected at 1 MHz. When Cr was doped to the sample, the dielectric constant was increased due to the increase in polarizations of the sample, whereas the Be-doped one showed the decrease in dielectric constant cf. the undoped synthetic alpha alumina (reference sample). Experiments on doping alpha alumina with both elements showed increasing in dielectric constant compared to the undoped reference sample, i.e., Cr has more influence to the dielectric constant value. Dielectric constants of a set of natural sapphires were also measured and compared to those obtained from the synthetic ones. The results of both natural and synthetic samples varied in the same direction. It suggests, however, that the geological origins of the samples are needed to be considered. This is due to the differences in physico-chemical conditions of their formations that would have influenced partitioning of trace elements as well as evolving of defects in natural samples. Increasing of the R1 and R2 photoluminescence wavelengths and decreasing of refractive indices of the doped samples cf. those of the reference sample were obtained from the experiments.

Ecological crystal glass with no toxic compounds, especially lead, was based on soda-lime-silica glass that fabricated mainly from 50 wt% local dressing sand, 22 wt% barium carbonate and doped with various concentrations of zirconium dioxide. Density (ρ), refractive index (RI), thermal expansion coefficient (CoE) and hardness (HV) were measured. It was found that the values of ρ, RI and HV increased linearly as the increasing of zirconium dioxide contents, whereas the CoE was decreased. This type of glass was ecologically friendly material.