A Mask-and-Collapse Mechanism in Glass Degradation Driven by Percolation in Titanium Doped Fluoro-Borate System

A Mask-and-Collapse Mechanism in Glass Degradation Driven by Percolation in Titanium Doped Fluoro-Borate System | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Physical Sciences - Article A Mask-and-Collapse Mechanism in Glass Degradation Driven by Percolation in Titanium Doped Fluoro-Borate System Fatma Shafeek This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7734351/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This comprehensive study examines the effects of TiO2 incorporation (0-10 mol%) into a complex fluoro-borate glass system with the composition 55B₂O₃ - 15Na₂O - 5CaO - 5ZnO - 5MgF₂ - 5SrF₂ - (10-X)Li₂O - (X) TiO₂ mol% prepared by the melt quenching technique. Through integrated structural, mechanical, physical, and optical characterizations, the study reveals the dual-role of titanium ions as both a network modifier and disruptor. The novelty of this work lies in uncovering a critical "masking effect," where fluoride ions (F⁻) initially shield the glass network from the full disruptive impact of Ti⁴⁺ at low concentrations (X < 5 mol%), creating a "competitive equilibrium." The XRD proved the amorphous nature of the prepared system. It exhibits a significant drop in tetrahedral boron coordination (N4%) from 23.71% to 7.85%, indicating considerable network depolymerization. Beyond this threshold, a second novel mechanism is identified: a percolation-driven collapse, where Ti⁴⁺ ions form interconnected clusters that catastrophically amplify their depolymerising effects, decreasing N4% to 7.85% at X = 10 mol%. According to TCT, the mechanical properties show that the system's stability relies entirely on compensatory mechanisms until it is overwhelmed at X ≤ 7.5 mol%, after which the Young's modulus decreases. According to (MRN), the non-monotonic increase in density behaviour is observed, with a peak at X=7.5 mol% (2.833 g/cm³), as well as a drop in molar volume at the same point. The systematic reduction in the optical bandgap from 3.344 eV to 2.795 eV (direct) and 2.669 eV to 1.766 eV (indirect), alongside an increase in Urbach energy, describes the induced disorder. This fundamental understanding of competitive ion interactions and percolation thresholds provides a novel framework for designing advanced optical materials with customised properties for photonic applications. Physical sciences/Physics/Applied physics Physical sciences/Materials science/Structural materials/Glasses Flouro-borate glass Tetrahedral borate units (BO4) and N4% Non-bridging oxygen bonds (NBOs) Titanium oxide Modified Random Network (MRN) Topological Constraint Theory (TCT) Percolation Theory (PT) F⁻ Masking Effect Structure-Property Correlation Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7734351","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Physical Sciences - Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":525387964,"identity":"8e09aa24-6968-48c2-a4a2-c77a25bc0688","order_by":0,"name":"Fatma Shafeek","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"Faculty of Science, Menoufia university","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Fatma","middleName":"","lastName":"Shafeek","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-09-28 12:35:11","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7734351/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7734351/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":92919301,"identity":"d78f10fc-9bbf-4171-ab89-6feb5440c14c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-07 06:31:44","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1259921,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"AMaskandCollapseMechanisminGlassDegradationDrivenbyPercolationinTitaniumDopedFluoroBorateSystem.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7734351/v1_covered_bc95bbc8-4b36-4ece-8df3-ec8e933d130e.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"A Mask-and-Collapse Mechanism in Glass Degradation Driven by Percolation in Titanium Doped Fluoro-Borate System","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Flouro-borate glass, Tetrahedral borate units (BO4) and N4%, Non-bridging oxygen bonds (NBOs), Titanium oxide, Modified Random Network (MRN), Topological Constraint Theory (TCT), Percolation Theory (PT), F⁻ Masking Effect, Structure-Property Correlation","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7734351/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7734351/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"This comprehensive study examines the effects of TiO2 incorporation (0-10 mol%) into a complex fluoro-borate glass system with the composition 55B₂O₃ - 15Na₂O - 5CaO - 5ZnO - 5MgF₂ - 5SrF₂ - (10-X)Li₂O - (X) TiO₂ mol% prepared by the melt quenching technique. 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