Study on the initial stages of water corrosion of fluorozirconate glasses

Abstract The surface corrosion process associated with the hydrolysis of fluorozirconate glass, ZBLAN (53ZrF 4 , 20BaF 2 , 20NaF, 4LaF 2 , 3AlF 3 ) was investigated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), grazing-incidence small angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS), X-ray reflectivity (XRR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). After a short exposure period (25 min) of the glass surface to deionized water the XPS data indicate an increase of the oxygen content accompanied by a decrease of fluorine concentration. The analysis of the chemical bonding structure identified the predominant surface reaction products as zirconium hydroxyfluoride and oxyfluoride species. The second most abundant…