Effect of CaO/SiO(2) molar ratio on the electrical and physical properties of basaltic glass materials

The effect of CaO∖SiO(2) molar ratio on the electrical properties of some glass materials was examined, using the impedance spectroscopy, at different frequency ranges, from 100 Hz up to 5 MHz. Also, a trial was accomplished to study the influence of CaO∖SiO(2) molar ratio on some physical properties such as density, micro-hardness and bending strength. Six glass batches, based on Sinai basaltic rocks and bypass cement dust, were prepared with different CaO/SiO(2) molar ratios (0.2–0.93 mol %). Accordingly, the electrical properties (conductivity dielectric constant and dielectric loss) of these samples show noticeable change. Electrical results show that the samples with relatively low (CaO/SiO(2)) molar ratio have relatively higher electrical conductivity, compared to the other samples with higher (CaO/SiO(2)) molar ratios, at different frequencies. Also, at the same time, the bending strength and Vickers micro-hardness show a gradual increase from 56 to 118 MPa and from 4020 to 6120 MPa, respectively, with decreasing CaO/SiO(2) molar ratio. The density of the samples shows a successive increase from 2.79 to 2.96 gm/cm(3) with the successive additions of bypass cement dust.