Comparative Study of Y2O3, ZnO, and CeO2 Additions to Magnesium Aluminosilicate Glasses: Composition–Structure–Property Relationships

The development of high-modulus glasses is essential for advanced lightweight applications, requiring a fundamental understanding of how different oxide components dictate elastic performance. To maximize stiffness, oxides must be strategically introduced to enhance both network connectivity and volumetric packing density; hence, Y 2 O 3 , ZnO, and CeO 2 are investigated here due to their high single-bond dissociation energies and strong cationic field strengths. Magnesium aluminosilicate glasses (MAS) modified with Y 2 O 3 , ZnO, and CeO 2 were systematically investigated to establish composition–structure–property relationships. A constrained ternary mixture design (Y 2 O 3 –ZnO–CeO 2 = 14 wt.%) was used to span the compositional space efficiently. The measured Young’s modulus ranged from 97.5 to 113.8 GPa, while the specific modulus varied between 36.6 and 41.7 ×10 6 N·m/kg. The highest values were obtained for compositions adding Y 2 O 3 alone or Y 2 O 3 –ZnO. Raman spectroscopy revealed systematic changes in the Si–O stretching band, including shifts in band position and variations in band width depending on composition. These changes indicate structural reorganization of the glass network. A moderate correlation between Raman peak position and Young’s modulus confirms that structural connectivity effects contribute to stiffness, although additional factors such as packing density and cation field strength are also relevant. The results demonstrate that Y 2 O 3 is the most effective oxide for increasing stiffness, ZnO exhibits composition-dependent behaviour, and CeO 2 reduces the specific modulus. The combined analysis provides an experimental and structural basis to designing high-modulus glass systems.