Glass, inorganic measurement

Measurement of pH was performed using a Metrohm model 691 pH meter equipped with a Metrohm combined LL micro pH glass electrode calibrated prior to use with pH = 2 and 9 buffers. The checkers found that adjustment to a lower pH led to product with higher amounts of inorganic impurities. The checkers also found that the use of pH paper results in different pH values as compared to the pH meter. 

Velapoldl et al. (64) used a similar approach but prepared fibers of uniform diameter (5-45 pm) from Inorganic Ion-doped glasses. The fluorescence parameters of these materials can be changed by substituting various Ions, such as Tb , Sm , Eu , Mn, UOj, Cu, and Sn. They show excellent stability under Irradiation using Incident excitation (measurement Imprecision of 1% under continuous Irradiation In the microscope for 24 h) and have a fluorescence flux density proportional to the fiber length. 

The approach to standardization used by Haaijman (53) and others (66,67), in which the fluorophor is incorporated within or bound to the surface of a plastic sphere, is more versatile than the use of inorganic ion>doped spheres, since the standard can be tailored exactly to the specifications required by the analyte species. However, this approach increases the uncertainty of the measurement because the photobleaching characteristics of both the standard and the sample must be considered. The ideal approach is to employ both types of standards. The glass microspheres can be used to calibrate instruments and set instrument operating parameters on a day-to-day basis, and the fluorophor-doped polymer materials can be used to determine the concentration-instrument response function. 

The fluoride ion is the only inorganic ligand to form a complete substitution series, Be(H20)4 flFJ(2 1 (n = 1-4), though there is considerable variation in the equilibrium constants that have been reported. The most reliable values are probably those of Anttila et al. (117) who used both glass and fluoride-ion selective electrodes and also took account of the competing hydrolysis reactions. They did not, however, make measurements in the conditions where BeF2 would have been formed. A speciation diagram based on reported equilibrium constants is shown in Fig. 12. It can be seen that the fluoride ion competed effectively with hydroxide at pH values up to 8, when Be(OH)2 precipitates. 

Dynamic SIMS is used for depth profile analysis of mainly inorganic samples. The objective is to measure the distribution of a certain compound as a function of depth. At best the resolution in this direction is < 1 nm, that is, considerably better than the lateral resolution. Depth profiling of semiconductors is used, for example, to monitor trace level elements or to measure the sharpness of the interface between two layers of different composition. For glass it is of interest to investigate slow processes such as corrosion, and small particle analyses include environmental samples contaminated by radioisotopes and isotope characterization in extraterrestrial dust. 

Filaments, or fibrils, are similarly variable in size. When the terms refer to portions of a fiber, their dimensions are also usually unspecified but are relative to the fiber itself. Fibrils of glass or inorganic polymers that have been measured are often less than 10 nanometers in diameter and form bundles of aligned fibrils 0.2 to 10 micrometers in diameter and up to 100 micrometers in length (Ray, 1978). Occasionally, minerals with diameters of a few millimeters and lengths of hundreds of centimeters have been described as fibrous. Most objects called fibers, however, are microscopic, with maximum dimensions of less than a millimeter. 

---