Viscosity-temperature relationships in the system Na₂Si₂O₅-Na₄Al₂O₅

The viscosity-temperature relationships of five melts on the join Na₂Si₂O₂-Na₄Al₂O₅ (5, 10, 20, 30 and 40 mole percent Na₄Al₂O₅) have been measured in air, at 1 atm and 1000-1350°C with a concentric cylinder viscometer. All the melts on this join of constant bulk polymerization behave as Newtonian fluids, in the range of shear rates investigated, and the melts exhibit Arrhenian viscosity-temperature relationships. Isothermal viscosities on this join initially decrease and then increase with increasing mole percent Na₄Al₂O₅. The minimum viscosity occurs near 20 mole percent Na₄Al₂O₅ at 1000°C and moves to higher Na₄Al₂O₅ content with increasing temperature. The observation of a viscosity minimum along the join Na₂Si₂-O₅-Na₄Al₂O₅ is not predicted based on earlier viscosity data for the system Na₂O-Al₂O₃-SiO₂ (RlEBLlNG, 1966) or based on calculation methods derived from this and other data (Bottinga and Weill, 1972). This unexpected behavior in melt viscosity-temperature relations emphasizes the need for a more complete data set in simple silicate systems. Previous spectroscopic investigation of melts on the join Na₂2Si₂O₅-Na₄Al₂O₅ offer a structural explanation for the observed viscosity data in terms of a disproportionation reaction involving polyanionic units. Macroscopically, the viscosity data may be qualitatively reconciled with the configurational entropy model for viscous flow (Richet, 1984).