Optical, Mechanical, and Physicochemical Properties of Na2O-P2O5-SiO2 Based Tint Glass for Building Construction Applications

This research attempts to synthesize an energy efficient and solar passive phosphosilicate based tint glass by doping with multi-metallic systems. The optimal infusion of minutely calibrated assimilation of metal oxides (Cu 2 O, CuO, Fe 2 O 3 and SnO 2 ) via conventional melt-quench-annealing route results in the formation of blue tint glass with excellent resistance in corrosive environment, and an appropriate density (~ 2.45 g/cm 3 ). The amorphous structure of the glass even after annealing is confirmed by XRD analysis. FTIR study indicates IR vibrational bands related to the silicate matrix structural components. The metal oxide doping significantly improves the mechanical, optical and physicochemical properties of the synthesized tint glass, which has many applications in the building contractions. Optical properties of the tint glass measured by UV–Vis spectroscopy show that 28–44% visible transmittance for daylighting and 18–39% solar transmittance for heat gain into the building are achieved. The multi-metallic doping not only makes an excellent quality tint glass system that can reduce a significant amount of solar heat energy but also improves compressive strength, Young modulus and modulus of toughness. The glass also shows excellent chemical durability that suggests its applications in reducing air-conditioning loads and the cost of artificial daylighting in the modern buildings. This study leads to a pathway towards a possibility that the synthesized tint glass can be a suitable candidate for the commercial building envelope materials in certain rich daylight areas.