PERMEATION DIFFUSION AND SOLUBILITY OF DEUTERIUM IN PYREX GLASS

The permeation of deuterium through thin Pyrex bulbs was measured with a mass spectrometer. The activation energies and absolute values at 200°C for permeation and diffusion were nearly the same as for deuterium in fused silica. The solubility of deuterium in Pyrex was independent of temperature, and about the same as the solubilities of several gases in fused silica. These results are consistent with a free-volume theory of gas solubility in glass and the separation of Pyrex into silica and sodium borosilicate phases.