Lion Glass: scientists create new glass that is 10 times stronger than conventional glass

Pennsylvania State University scientists have made a new glass, LionGlass, which is 10 times more durable than ordinary glass, and carbon emissions are significantly reduced during its production process. This means that the production of glass can be easier and less expensive.

Traditionally, glass is made by casting a mixture of quartz sand, soda ash and chalk. The melting point of the mixture reaches up to 1500 °C, which is accompanied by a huge amount of energy consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, as well as increased wear and tear on equipment, furnaces and tools. In addition, a lot of carbon dioxide is released during the chemical reaction of glass formation. All this makes glass production a less environmentally attractive process.

In the mixture, the scientists replaced the carbonates with aluminum oxide and iron oxides. This immediately reduced the melting point by 300–400 °C and enabled a 30% reduction in melting energy. The absence of carbonates in the mixture also reduced the generation of CO2 during the chemical reaction, which generally allows us to say that carbon dioxide emissions during the production of LionGlass are reduced by 50% or even more.

Furthermore, LionGlass hardness and crack tests have shown it to be at least 10 times stronger than ordinary glass. If according to the Vickers hardness test, ordinary glass begins to crack under a load of 100 grams, LionGlass glass withstands a load of 1 kg without damage.

Even this result is encouraging. For glass, microcracks are the path to rapid destruction. This improvement in strength promises to make window panes and other glass products significantly thinner without reducing strength, another way to reduce production costs.

Scientists have already applied for a patent for the invention of LionGlass. In the next phase, they will start looking for partners for the commercialization of the new glasses. In parallel, they are testing the resistance of LionGlass to various conditions and chemical environments, which will help determine the range of its application.