Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 23, 2026

Dissection of Human Vitreous Body Elements for Proteomic Analysis
Published on: January 23, 2011
Spectroscopic evidence of polymorphism in vitreous B2O3
Jason Nicholas1, Stanislav Sinogeikin, John Kieffer
1Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA. JDNicholas@lbl.gov
Abstract:
Brillouin and Raman spectroscopy were performed on B2O3 glass compressed to 57 GPa at 273 K. Upon compression the sound velocities increase smoothly and the boroxol ring Raman mode vanishes by 11 GPa. Upon decompression the sound velocities follow a different path and at 3 GPa a discontinuity of 3 km/s in V(p) and 2 km/s in V(s) returns the velocities to the values seen on compression. After the transition, the boroxol ring Raman mode reappears. A second pressure cycle produces the same behavior, suggesting the 3 GPa transition occurs between vitreous polymorphs with different boron coordination.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
UV–Vis Spectroscopy: Molecular Electronic Transitions
UV–Vis Spectroscopy of Conjugated Systems
One of the factors influencing λmax is the extent of conjugation in the...
UV–Vis Spectroscopy: Woodward–Fieser Rules
UV–Vis Spectrometers
UV–Vis Spectrum
The UV–Vis spectrum of a molecule is the plot of its absorbance versus wavelength. The plot is drawn by taking molar absorptivity (ε) or log ε on the y-axis (ordinate)...
Ultraviolet and Visible (UV–Vis) Spectroscopy: Overview

