Globally, glass manufacturing at least 86 million tons amount of carbon dioxide per year. But a new type of glass called LionGlass, developed by researchers at Penn State University, offers the potential to reduce this carbon footprint by 50%. This innovative glass not only requires significantly less energy to manufacture, it also boasts superior resistance to damage compared to traditional soda-lime-silicate glass. The scientists behind this breakthrough recently filed a patent application, marking the first move toward market introduction of LionGlass.
“Our goal is to make glass manufacturing sustainable for the long term,” said John Mauro, Dorothy Pate-Enright Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Penn State University and principal investigator on the project. said. “LionGlass eliminates the use of carbon-containing batch materials and significantly lowers the melting temperature of the glass.”
Soda lime silicate glass is a common glass used in everyday items from window glass to glass tableware, and is made by melting three main raw materials: silica sand, soda ash, and limestone. Soda ash is sodium carbonate and limestone is calcium carbonate, both of which release carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas that traps heat when melted.
“During the glass melting process, carbonates decompose into oxides to produce carbon dioxide, which is released into the atmosphere,” Mauro said.
However, most of the CO2 emissions come from the energy required to heat the furnace to the high temperatures required to melt the glass. Using LionGlass lowers the melting temperature by about 300-400 degrees. CelsiusMauro explained that this reduces energy consumption by about 30% compared to traditional soda-lime glass.
Not only is LionGlass environmentally friendly, it’s also much stronger than traditional glass. The researchers said they were surprised to find that the new glass, named after Pennsylvania State University’s mascot Nittany the Lion, is significantly more crack resistant than conventional glass.
Some of the research team’s glass compositions were so crack-resistant that they did not break even when loaded with a 1-kilogram force by a Vickers diamond indenter. LionGlass is at least ten times more crack resistant than standard soda-lime glass, which cracks at about 0.1 kilogram force. The researchers explained that LionGlass’ limit has not yet been found because it has reached the maximum load that the pushing device can handle.
“We kept increasing the weight of LionGlass until we reached the maximum load the device could handle,” says Nick Clark, a postdoctoral fellow in Mauro’s lab. “It never cracks.”
Mauro explained that crack resistance is one of the most important qualities in glass testing because it is how the material ultimately breaks. Over time, microcracks develop on the surface of the glass, creating weak points. If the glass breaks, it is due to vulnerabilities caused by pre-existing microcracks. Glass, which is less prone to microcracks in the first place, is of particular value, he added.
“Damage resistance is a particularly important property for glass,” said Mauro. “Think of how we rely on the strength of glass in the automotive and electronics industries, architecture, fiber optic cables and other communication technologies. stored in packaging.”
Mauro hopes that LionGlass’ increased strength will allow lighter products to be made from LionGlass. LionGlass could be significantly thinner as he is 10 times more damage resistant than current glass.
“You should be able to reduce the thickness and still get the same level of damage resistance,” says Mauro. “Lighter products are better for the environment because they require less raw materials and less energy to manufacture. Downstream transportation also requires less energy to transport the glass, which is better for everyone.” It will be an advantage.”
Mauro said the research team is still evaluating LionGlass’ potential. They have patent applications for an entire family of glasses. This means that there are many compositions within the LionGlass family, each with their own distinct properties and potential uses. They are currently studying how different compositions of LionGlass react to different chemical environments. The results will help teams better understand how LionGlass can be used around the world.
“Mankind learned how to make glass more than 5,000 years ago, and since then glass has been of vital importance to bring modern civilization to where it is today,” Mauro said. “In the face of global challenges such as environmental concerns, renewable energy, energy efficiency, healthcare and urban development, we are at a time when we need it to shape the future. We can play an important role in solving the problem and we are ready to contribute.”