Light scattering in jadeite melt: Strain relaxation measurements by photon correlation spectroscopy

Abstract

Photon correlation spectroscopy has been applied to the study of longitudinal strain relaxation of vitreous Jadeite (NaAlSi₂O₆) in the temperature range 811–1014° C. The correlation function $\left| {g^{\left( 1 \right)} \left. {\left( t \right)} \right|^2 \propto \exp \left( {\left( { - 2t/\tau _\beta } \right)^\beta } \right)} \right.$ obeys a Kohlrausch type function with β=0.64±0.01. Individual correlation functions fit altogether a master relaxation curve, thus demonstrating thermorheological simplicity (TRS). The temperature dependence of the measured relaxation times shows Arrhenian behaviour with $\log \left( \tau \right) = - 21.4 \pm 0.3{\text{s}} {\text{ + }} {\text{471}}{\text{.6}} \pm {\text{22}} {\text{kJmol}}^{{\text{ - 1}}} /RT$. The time scale of longitudinal strain relaxation is consistent with the existing data on shear relaxation derived from shear viscosity and structural relaxation calculated from calorimetric C _pmeasurements. Comparison with oxygen diffusion indicates that network forming elements relax at about the same time scale as viscoelastic properties. On the other hand, Na⁺ relaxation times derived from impedance spectroscopy are short compared to viscoelastic relaxation times at low temperatures. This difference is decreasing with increasing temperature and possibly disappearing at approximately 1100° C.