What is quartz glass?

Quartz glass is made by melting various pure natural quartz (such as crystal, quartz sand, etc.). It has a very small coefficient of linear expansion. It’s about 1/10 to 1/20 that of regular glass. Plus, it shows great resistance to thermal shock. It can withstand high heat. Its normal range is 1100°C to 1200°C, but it can spike to 1400°C for a short time. You mostly see quartz glass in lab gear and tools for high-purity refining. Its strong light transmission and resistance to radiation make it great for spacecraft, wind tunnel windows, and optical systems in spectrophotometers. Other glasses darken when exposed to radiation, but this one doesn’t.

Characteristics:

Quartz glass is a special industrial technical glass composed solely of silicon dioxide. This glass scores a high 7 on the Mohs scale. It also has strong heat resistance, low expansion, and good thermal shock resistance. Plus, it offers chemical stability and electrical insulation. It can also send ultraviolet and infrared rays. It has good acid resistance to most acids, except hydrofluoric acid and hot phosphoric acid. The division includes two categories: transparent and opaque. It also has three purity types: high-purity, ordinary, and doped. Manufacturers create it using raw materials like quartz, silica, and silicides. They do this by melting at high temperatures or through chemical vapor deposition. Melting methods include electric melting and gas refining. Quartz products include: quartz tube,quartz plate, quartz rod, quartz crucible, quartz instrument, quartz ingot, quartz crystal singing product and ect.

Naming Controversy:

Quartz glass is a special glass composed solely of silicon dioxide. Silica glass can go by many names. People often call it: quartz glass, fused quartz, or fused silica. Other terms include synthetic fused silica. You may also find terms like transparent, semi-transparent, and opaque quartz, especially abroad.

In China, this material is usually called quartz glass. We can classify it based on how we make it, its uses, and its appearance. Types include:

• Electrically fused transparent quartz glass

• Continuously fused quartz glass

• Gas-refined transparent quartz glass

• Synthetic quartz glass

• Opaque quartz glass

• Optical quartz glass

• Semiconductor quartz glass

• Electric light source: quartz glass

It is not right to call this material “quartz.” “Quartz” is the crystal form of silicon dioxide. It has different properties from glassy silicon dioxide.