Structural investigations of tungsten silver phosphate glasses by solid state NMR, vibrational and X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopies

Glasses were prepared in the pseudo-binary system (1 − x)AgPO₃-xWO₃ (0≤ × ≤ 0.6 mol%). The structural evolution of the vitreous network was studied as a function of composition by thermal analysis, Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman scattering, high resolution ³¹P solid state NMR and XANES at the W-L₁ absorption edge. For compositions with x ranging from 0 to 0.5 a pronounced increase in the glass transition temperature is observed, suggesting a significant increase in the glass network connectivity. At the same time Raman spectra indicate that tungsten atoms are linked to non-bridging oxygen atoms (W-O- or W=O bonded species) whereas the ³¹P MAS-NMR spectra indicate the successive formation of new P-O-W linkages. The formation of some anionic tungsten sites (if these are revealed by the presence of W-O terminal bonds) implies an increase in the average degree of polymerization of the phosphate network, which is consistent with the compositional evolution of the ³¹P MAS-NMR spectra at low x values. For higher x-values, the Raman spectra indicate the presence of W-O-W linkages. W-L₁ XANES data indicate that at least 90% of tungsten atoms are octahedrally coordinated.     

Local structure and redox state of copper in tellurite glasses

The local glass structure of tellurite glasses containing CuO with the nominal composition x(CuO) · (1−x)(TeO₂), where x=0.10, 0.20, 0.30, 0.40, and 0.50, as well as the valence state of the copper ions have been investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and magnetization measurements. The Te 3d core level spectra for all glass samples show symmetrical peaks (Te 3d_5/2 and Te 3d_3/2) at essentially the same binding energies as measured for TeO₂ indicating that the chemical environment of the Te atoms in the glasses does not vary significantly with the addition of CuO. The O 1s spectra, however, show slight asymmetry for all glass samples which results from two contributions, one from the presence of oxygen atoms in the Te-O-Te environment (bridging oxygen BO) and the other from oxygen atoms in an Te-O-Cu environment (non-bridging oxygen NBO). The ratio of NBO to total oxygen was found to increase with CuO content and to be in good agreement with calculated values for the TeO₄ trigonal bipyramid structure. Moreover, the appearance of a satellite peak in the Cu 2p spectra provides definitive evidence for the presence of Cu²⁺ ions in these glass samples where the asymmetry and broadening of the Cu 2p_3/2 and Cu 2p_1/2 peaks are indicative of the presence of both Cu²⁺ and Cu⁺ ions. The relative concentration Cu²⁺ determined from XPS is in good qualitative agreement with the determinations of Cu²⁺ from magnetic susceptibility measurements on the same glass samples. Furthermore the susceptibility data follow a Curie-Weiss temperature-dependent behavior (χ=C/(T−θ)) with negative Curie temperatures indicating that the predominant magnetic interactions between the Cu²⁺-Cu²⁺ exchange pairs are antiferromagnetic in nature.     

Sol-gel synthesis of a new composition of bioactive glass in the quaternary system SiO2-CaO-Na2O-P2O5: Comparison with melting method

New sol-gel experimental conditions were tested to prepare a new SiO₂-based bioactive glass with high Na₂O content. The aim of this work is to investigate the real influence of the synthesis route (sol-gel versus melting) on the glass intrinsic properties and then, later, on the glass behavior and particularly on bioactivity. The obtained glass and its melt derived counterpart were characterized from structural and morphological (porosity, specific surface area) point of view. It could be noticed that the synthesis mode has no significant influence on glass structure. Conversely, the synthesis mode greatly influences the glass texture. The sol-gel derived glass exhibits a greatly higher specific surface area and pore volume than melt derived glass. This parameter may be a key factor of glass bioactivity.     

The split network analysis for exploring composition-structure correlations in multi-component glasses: I. Rationalizing bioactivity-composition trends of bioglasses

We present a strategy, referred to as “split network” analysis, for assessing the average network polymerization (r_F) and mean number of bridging oxygen (BO) atoms (N?_BO^F) for each individual network former F in multi-component oxide-based glasses, primarily targeting those involving Al, B, P and Si. This requires a priori knowledge about the parameters {r_F, N?_BO^F} of all network builders, but one, whose values are deduced by the split network procedure. We illustrate split-network concepts for establishing composition/structure/bioactivity correlations in Na-Ca-Si-P-O glasses. The cooperating influences on the bioactivity from the average polymerization degree of the silicate network and the amounts of orthophosphate and sodium ions are discussed.