S&T grad student honored for glass research

Missouri University of Science and Technology graduate student Lina Ma has received national recognition for her research on the structure and properties of iron phosphate glasses.      

These glasses can possess outstanding chemical durability and so have been considered for use to store radioactive wastes.

Lina Ma (left) receives the Kreidl Award from Kelly Simmons-Potter, chair of ACerS’ Glass and Optical Materials Division, for her work on the structure of phosphate glasses. Photo courtesy of ACerS.

Ma, a Ph.D. candidate in ceramic engineering from Jiayuguan, China, received the Norbert J. Kreidl Award for graduate research in glass at the American Ceramic Society’s 10th Pacific Rim Conference on Ceramic and Glass Technology, held June 2-7 in San Diego. During the conference, she presented a lecture on her research at a special awards session.

Ma studies the relationships between the composition, structure and properties of phosphate glasses. She uses techniques like liquid chromatography and Raman spectroscopy to determine how changes in composition affect the phosphate anions that constitute the glass structure, and she found that changes in the types of anions affected the glass-forming ability of certain compositions, as well as the chemical durability of the glasses.

Ma studies under the direction of Dr. Richard K. Brow, Curators’ Professor of materials science and engineering and president of the American Ceramic Society, a 9,500-member professional society to advance the study, understanding and use of ceramics and related materials.