To investigate the influence of ZnO on the structure, physical properties
of iron-calcium-aluminosilicate glasses, glasses with nominal compositions
listed in Table 1 were synthesized. In the glass composition,
the CaO/Al2O3/SiO2/Fe2O3ratios are fixed, while the content of ZnO increases.
According to the amounts of ZnO, the prepared glasses were
encoded as, ×3, ×6, ×9 and ×12, respectively. For comparison, the
base glass was designated as×0. Analytic grade ingredients of silica, calcium
carbonate, aluminum hydroxide, iron and zinc oxides were used
as purchased. The raw materials were thoroughly mixed and melt in
alumina crucibles in an electric furnace at 1500 °C for 2 h. The melt
was quenched and formed in a stainless steel mold. The as-synthesized
samples were kept at 550 °C for 1 h for annealing.