Entropy and structure of oxidized and reduced iron-bearing silicate glasses

The influence of ferrous and ferric iron on the low-temperature heat capacity and vibrational entropy of silicate glasses has been determined by adiabatic calorimetry. Two pairs of samples based on sodium disilicate and calcium Tschermak molecule compositions have been studied. Along with previous data for another Fe-bearing glass, these results have been used to complement the available set of composition independent partial molar relative entropies of oxides in silicate glasses with S₂₉₈ − S₀ values of 56.7 and 116 J/mol for FeO and Fe₂O₃, respectively. The calorimetric data indicate that the fraction of fivefold coordinated Al is significant in the CaO-“FeO”-Al₂O₃-SiO₂ system and that association of Ca²⁺ and Na⁺ with Fe³⁺ in tetrahedral coordination for charge compensation does not entail significant changes in coordination for these two cations. At very low temperatures, however, the heat capacity is no longer an additive function of composition because of unexpectedly high positive deviations from Debye laws. These anomalies are stronger for the reduced than the oxidized glasses and considerably larger than for iron-free glasses, but their origin cannot be established from the present measurements.