An optical diffuser can comprise an amorphous phase and a crystalline phase comprising lithium disilicate and one or more of ß-spodumene or ß-quartz comprising a median grain size ranging from about 500 nanometers to about 1,000 nanometers. The crystalline phase can be dispersed throughout a volume of the optical diffuser. The optical diffuser can comprise, on an oxide basis in mol %, SiO.sub.2: 60-75; Al.sub.2O.sub.3: 2-9; Li.sub.2O: 17-25; and Na.sub.2O+K.sub.2O: 0.5-6. Methods of making an optical diffuser can comprise forming a mixture by melting together, on an oxide basis in mol %, SiO.sub.2: 60-75; Al.sub.2O.sub.3: 2-9; Li.sub.2O: 17-25; and Na.sub.2O+K.sub.2O: 0.5-6. Methods can comprise forming a ribbon from the mixture. Methods can comprise heating the ribbon about 850° C. to about 900° C. for about 0.5 hours to about 6 hours.

The present invention relates to compositions in the form of precursor glass powders, pastes and preforms comprising said precursor glass powders and glass-ceramics produced from the precursor glass powders, pastes or preforms. The present invention also relates to a method of forming a seal between a first and second material with a glass-ceramic, and a joint comprising a first material, a second material and a glass-ceramic sealing material joining the first and second materials together.

Embodiments of the present invention pertain to antimicrobial glass compositions, glasses, and articles. The articles include a glass, which may include a glass phase and a cuprite phase. In other embodiments, the glasses include a plurality of Cu.sup.1+ ions, a degradable phase including B.sub.2O.sub.3, P.sub.2O.sub.5 and K.sub.2O, and a durable phase including SiO.sub.2. Other embodiments include glasses having a plurality of Cu.sup.1+ ions disposed on the surface of the glass and in the glass network and/or the glass matrix. The article may also include a polymer. The glasses and articles disclosed herein exhibit a 2 log reduction or greater in a concentration of at least one of Staphylococcus aureus, Enterobacter aerogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria, Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and E. coli, under the EPA Test Method for Efficacy of Copper Alloy as a Sanitizer testing condition and under Modified JIS Z 2801 for Bacteria testing conditions.

A glass that contains Si, B, Al, and Zn. The glass has SiO.sub.2 at a content of 15% by weight to 65% by weight, B.sub.2O.sub.3 at a content of 11% by weight to 30% by weight, Al.sub.2O.sub.3, and ZnO, wherein a weight ratio of the SiO.sub.2 to the B.sub.2O.sub.3 (SiO.sub.2/B.sub.2O.sub.3) is 1.21 or higher, and a weight ratio of the Al.sub.2O.sub.3 to the ZnO (Al.sub.2O.sub.3/ZnO) is 0.75 to 1.64, and wherein an alkaline-earth metal is excluded as a material contained in the glass.

The present invention relates to a glass ceramic material comprising a core-rim structure, wherein the core-rim structure comprises an amorphous SiO.sub.2 matrix, ZrO.sub.2 crystals, and hardness-enhancing additive, the ZrO.sub.2 crystals are present in cores that are at least partly surrounded by a rim comprising hardness-enhancing additive.

The present invention relates to inorganic fibres having a composition comprising: 61.0 to 70.8 wt % SiO.sub.2; 28.0 to 39.0 wt % CaO; 0.10 to 0.85 wt % MgO other components, if any, providing the balance up to 100 wt %,

The sum of SiO.sub.2 and CaO is greater than or equal to 98.8 wt % and the other components comprise less than 0.70 wt % Al.sub.2O.sub.3, if any.

A glass ceramic seal contains by weight, on an oxide basis 40-60% of SiO.sub.2, 25-28% of BaO, 10-20% of B.sub.2O.sub.3, 8-12% of Al.sub.2O.sub.3, 0-2% of ZrO.sub.2, 0-1% of Y.sub.2O.sub.3, 0-1% of CaO, and 0-1% of MgO.

A glass ceramic article including a lithium disilicate crystalline phase, a petalite crystalline phased, and a residual glass phase. The glass ceramic article has a warp (μm)<(3.65×10.sup.−9/μm×diagonal.sup.2) where diagonal is a diagonal measurement of the glass ceramic article in μm, a stress of less than 30 nm of retardation per mm of glass ceramic article thickness, a haze (%)<0.0994t+0.12 where t is the thickness of the glass ceramic article in mm, and an optical transmission (%)>0.91×10.sup.(2−0.03t) of electromagnetic radiation wavelengths from 450 nm to 800 nm, where t is the thickness of the glass ceramic article in mm.

A glass-ceramic includes glass and crystalline phases, where the crystalline phase includes non-stoichiometric suboxides of titanium, forming ‘bronze’-type solid state defect structures in which vacancies are occupied with dopant cations.

The present invention relates to a glass in which: the glass is a crystallized glass; the glass has a difference log η−log η.sub.0 (dPa.Math.s) between a logarithm log η (dPa.Math.s) of bulk viscosity η (dPa.Math.s) and a logarithm log η.sub.0 (dPa.Math.s) of local viscosity η.sub.0 (dPa.Math.s) of larger than 0 and 1.8 or smaller, in a temperature range in which the logarithm log η.sub.0 (dPa.Math.s) of the bulk viscosity η (dPa.Math.s) is 11.4 or larger and 12.7 or smaller.