Influence of impurities on ultraviolet ray transmittance of the soda-lime glass

Abstract

Recently, research and development using ultraviolet rays is being conducted in the bioscience field. In such R&D, expensive quartz glass is most often used as the ultraviolet transmitting material. The authors have been studying the use of inexpensive soda-lime glass as an alternative to quartz. In this study the authors investigated the effects of iron oxide and titanium oxide, which are found in raw materials, and crucible materials on the ultraviolet transmission properties of soda-lime glass. It was found that by reducing the amount of Fe2O3 and TiO2 contained in raw materials as impurities, it was possible for soda-lime glass to achieve high ultraviolet transmissivity. Reducing the amount of iron oxide turned out to be an especially effective way to improve ultraviolet transmissivity. © 2007 The Japan Institute of Metals.