The
ability of bulk glass and fibers to react in aqueous solution,
with organic polymers and coupling agents, depends on the surface
charge, reactivity, and adsorption properties of the glass surface,
i.e. the character and density of surface −OH groups, whereas
glass and fiber chemical stability and biosolubility depend on the
resistance to dissolution. If glass dissolution products are accumulated
in a media, they can change the surface properties by specific adsorption.
We determined the −OH surface concentration, reactivity, adsorption,
and dissolution properties of aluminosilicate glasses containing various
modifiers and compared the results with the behavior of complex mineral
wool fibers. Using proton consumption and element release from batch
surface titration experiments, over the range 5 < pH < 10, surface
−OH adsorption properties were modeled with the FITEQL program.
During titration, network modifiers in the glass subsurface are preferentially
replaced by protons, resulting in cation accumulation in the solution
and formation of a leached layer enriched with Si on the solid. The
behavior of Al was different. At 5 < pH < 9, only very small
amounts of Al were found in the leachates, which can be explained
by almost complete Al adsorption as stable surface complexes, i.e.
>XOAl(OH)2 (where X = Si or Al and > represents the
surface).
At pH > 9, divalent cations adsorbed specifically, as >XOMe+ complexes (Me = Ca or Mg). This deeper understanding of the
surface
behavior of glasses and fibers is important for the design of composite
materials, for applications in biology and medicine and in materials
production in general, as well as for understanding natural processes,
such as global uptake estimates of CO2 during rock weathering.