Structural and Mechanical Properties of Borosilicate Glass–Alumina–Nano Copper Oxide Composites

In this study, a detailed analysis of the possibilities and advantages of replacing borosilicate glass (BS) with BS-Alumina (Al₂O₃) and BS-nano copper oxide (n-Cu₂O) composites. The use of glass vials in the pharmaceutical and food packaging industries has been a long-standing standard; however, concerns regarding breakage and contamination have led to the exploration of alternative materials, raising the question of using better composite materials for the above-mentioned purposes. BS + Al₂O₃ (0, 10, 20, 30 wt%), BS + n-Cu₂O (0, 10, 20, 30 wt%), and BS + Al₂O₃ + n-Cu₂O (80, 10, 10 wt%) composites by way of compaction and sintering of the powdered materials at 850° have been fabricated and investigated for their structural and mechanical properties. The pellets are studied for their microstructure by performing SEM analysis, where it was found that the glass formed a featureless surface with no distinct grains or crystals, whereas the alumina was observed to have formed tiny chip-like structures, and the copper oxide was observed to form spheres that were observed to be nanoparticles. The pellets are finally tested for the hardness of the composite pellets by the Micro Vickers Hardness method, where the results show a substantial increase in the hardness values by about 24.49% for 90% BS and 10% Al₂O₃ as compared to 100% BS, and the next highest value is achieved by the mixture of the 3 components, i.e., 80% BS + 10% Al₂O₃ + 10% n-Cu₂O, at 8% higher than the base sample. The results show that the slight addition of alumina increases the hardness substantially, but further addition reduces the hardness and observed that the addition of Cu₂O increases the hardness of the composite. The reported changes thus show a better result than a pure BS composite at a minimal cost difference, making it viable for commercial production of the proposed composite glass and solving the problem of breakage and contamination.