Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 February 2011
This paper provides an overview of waste glass alteration. Emphasis is on the evolution of surface layers and factors affecting the alteration rate when glass is subjected to an aqueous environment. The extent, type and rate of alteration is determined by a variety of parameters including time, temperature, glass composition, pH, Eh, composition of leachate/geology, the presence of other engineered barriers, flow conditions and surface area/volume ratio. Models (based on kinetic and thermodynamic considerations) developed by other researchers that are consistent with the experimental observations from the laboratory and field experiments are discussed. The morphology of the surface layers as described by interpretation of secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) analyses on waste glasses and the role the various layers play in the alteration process is presented as well.