Structure and properties of disordered materials

液态和玻璃态氧化物混合物在从普通到高级光子学的应用中无处不在。 一个例子是氧化硼和水。 这种混合物是焊接铜管所需的焊剂的一部分，它通常用作有效的阻燃剂：虽然在室温下干燥，但在加热时会释放出水。 在这些应用中，材料处于热液体状态，我们的目标是测量这些热液体的性质。 几乎没有对热的B2 O3：H2O混合物进行实验工作，这可能是由于在进行测量时需要包含来自释放的蒸汽的几个大气压的压力。 纯B2 O3玻璃是一种“无机聚合物”;一整批材料实际上是一个单一的分子，由连续的无规共价键网络组成。 如果我们看一下水的“快照”，它也是一个连续的随机键网络，但在水中，连接H2O分子的氢键要弱得多。 通过不断调整B2 O3与H2O的比例，我们逐渐从一种网络切换到另一种网络。 我们的目标之一是找到在整个样品中形成连续共价键网络所需的B2 O3的最小量。

Liquid and glassy oxide mixtures are used ubiquitously in applications ranging from the mundane to advanced photonics. One example is boron oxide and water. This mixture is part of the flux needed to solder copper pipes, and it is commonly used as an effective flame retardant: while dry at room temperature, it releases water upon heating. During these applications the material is in its hot liquid state, and our objective is to measure the properties these hot liquids. Almost no experimental work has been done on hot B2O3:H2O mixtures, perhaps due to the need to contain several atmospheres of pressure from the released steam while carrying out the measurements. Pure B2O3 glass is an "inorganic polymer"; a whole batch of material is actually one single molecule, consisting of a continuous random network of covalent bonds. If one looks at a "snapshot" of water at one moment, it is also a continuous random network of bonds, but in water the links are much weaker hydrogen bonds interlinking H2O molecules. By continuously adjusting the ratio of B2O3 to H2O we switch gradually from one type of network to the other. One of our objectives is to find the minimum amount of B2O3 required for forming a continuous network of covalent bonds across the whole sample.