Borosilicate Glass - History

History

Borosilicate glass was first developed by German glassmaker Otto Schott in the late 19th century and sold under the brand name "Duran" in 1893. After Corning Glass Works introduced Pyrex in 1915, the name became a synonym for borosilicate glass in the English-speaking world.

The European manufacturer of Pyrex, Arc International, uses borosilicate glass in its Pyrex glass kitchen products; however, the U.S. manufacturer of Pyrex kitchenware uses tempered soda-lime glass. Thus Pyrex can refer to either soda-lime glass or borosilicate glass when discussing kitchen glassware, while Pyrex, Bomex, Duran, TGI and Simax all refer to borosilicate glass when discussing laboratory glassware.

Most borosilicate glass is colorless. Colored borosilicate, for the studio glass trade, was first widely brought onto the market in 1986 when Paul Trautman founded Northstar Glassworks. In 2000, former Northstar Glassworks employee Henry Grimmett started Glass Alchemy and developed the first cadmium Crayon Colors and aventurine Sparkle colors in the borosilicate palette.

In addition to the quartz, sodium carbonate, and aluminum oxide traditionally used in glassmaking, boron is used in the manufacture of borosilicate glass. The composition of low expansion borosilicate glass such as those laboratory glasses mentioned above is approximately 80% silica, 13% boric oxide, 4% sodium oxide, and 2-3% aluminum oxide. Though more difficult to make than traditional glass due to the high melting temperature required (Corning conducted a major revamp of their operations to make it), it is economical to produce. Its superior durability, chemical and heat resistance finds excellent use in chemical laboratory equipment, cookware, lighting and, in certain cases, windows.