Concentration- and pH-dependence of highly alkaline sodium silicate solutions

In this study two routes for the gelation of water glass have been investigated; the destabilization by a change in pH and by an increase in concentration through evaporation. Both methods produce optically transparent, highly viscous, homogeneous solutions. The structure and dynamics of the solutions along the two routes have been investigated with dynamic light scattering, (29)Si-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy, viscosity measurements and infrared spectroscopy. We find that the two routes are fundamentally different. Increasing the concentration of the sodium silicate system leaves the silica speciation apparently unchanged. Lowering the pH leads to condensation reactions, thus a change in the silica speciation.