Scientists expand potential uses for glass by studying how atoms vibrate

This new technique will make a significant contribution to the Functional Materials Group's current research into the use of glass as a material for applications such as nuclear waste immobilisation and as a biomaterial. Specific applications for the latter include the development of a biodegradable glass for bone regeneration.

The team's experiment, described in a recent editor's choice paper by the journal Physical Review B, involved using several types of glass containing different isotopes of oxygen which, due to the difference in mass between the isotopes, vibrate at different speeds. The speed of these vibrations was then measured via a technique known as inelastic neutron scattering.

Dr Gavin Mountjoy, Head of the Functional Materials Group and principal investigator on the project, explained: "Knowledge of how atoms vibrate in solids is fundamental for explaining the thermal properties of materials; for example, in materials used for energy production, which operate at high temperatures. However, it has always been difficult to study atoms vibrating in glasses because the atoms are not arranged in a regular, predictable way as they are in crystals. To date, the understanding of this phenomenon has been heavily reliant on computer simulations."

Co-investigator Bob Newport, Professor of Materials Physics at SPS, added: "Since a new methodology has been established, it can be exploited to study a range of different glasses."

The research was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).