Spectral absorption of tellurium in alkali borate glasses

The spectral absorption of tellurium-containing lithium, sodium and potassium borate glasses in the range of 300–700 nm was used to identify the states of tellurium formed in such glasses. Depending on the nature and concentration of the alkali oxide the glasses obtained were either colourless, rose which is attributed to the formation of the polytelluride ion or grey which is attributed to the formation of elemental tellurium particles. The tellurites and/or tellurates are expected to form in glasses of high content of either Na₂O or K₂O which were colourless. The sequence of formation of the different states of tellurium with increasing alkali content is in accordance with acidity-basicity concept.     

Composition dependence of the optical absorption spectra of cupric ion in sodium borosilicate glass melts

Optical absorption spectra of Cu²⁺ d–d transition peak in sodium borosilicate glasses and their melts were measured from room temperature to 1100 K. In the case of borate glass free from silicon, increase of the temperature above T_g shifts the peak position to the low energy side and decreases the peak height. Peak width is gradually increased with the increase in temperature. On the other hand, in the case of silicate glass free from boron, peak width is decreased with the increase in temperature from room temperature to liquidus temperature. In addition, peak height is slightly decreased with the temperature increase in this temperature range. Further increase of the temperature makes the peak width large. In borosilicate glasses, temperature dependence of the optical absorption spectra is different both from borate and from silicate, and the temperature dependences of the peak position and of the peak height are very small. Temperature dependence of the peak width depends on the boron/silicon ratio.     

Elastic properties of fast ion conducting lithium based borate glasses

Elastic properties of Li₂O–PbO–B₂O₃ glasses have been investigated using sound velocity measurements at 10 MHz. Four series of glasses have been investigated with different concentrations of Li₂O, PbO and B₂O₃. The variations of molar volume have been examined for the influences of Li₂O and PbO. The elastic moduli reveal trends in their compositional dependence. The bulk and shear modulus increases monotonically with increase in the concentration of tetrahedral boron which increases network dimensionality. The variation of bulk moduli has also been correlated to the variation in energy densities. The Poisson’s ratio found to be insensitive to the concentration of tetrahedral boron in the structure. The experimental Debye temperatures are in good agreement with the expected theoretical values. Experimental observations have been examined in view, the presence of borate network and the possibility of non-negligible participation of lead in network formation.     

Optical absorption of cobalt (II) in binary thallium borate glasses

The optical absorption spectra of cobalt (II) in Tl₂OB₂O₃ glasses have been studied and compared with those in binary alkali borate glasses. In thallium borate glasses cobalt (II) may be present in octahedral and/or in tetrahedral symmetry depending upon the composition of the glass. In low thallium borate glasses cobalt (II) is octahedral while the concentration of tetrahedral cobalt (II) increases with increasing Tl₂O content of the glass; the formation of tetrahedral cobalt (II) becomes noticeable when the concentration of Tl₂O reaches above the critical concentration of about 19 mol %. The ligand field parameters: 10Dq and B have been calculated from the absorption spectra of cobalt (II) in different glasses and it has been found that the Racah parameter, B, is more in Tl₂OB₂O₃ glasses than those in Na₂OB₂O₃ or K₂OB₂O₃ glasses of corresponding molar composition. This indicates that the donor capacity of the BO₄ group in thallium borate glasses is lower than that in alkali borate glasses; this is consistent with the NMR results in Tl₂OB₂O₃ glasses containing less than 20 mol % Tl₂O where three BO₄ groups have been found to form with each Tl₂O unit added.     

Internal friction in phosphoaluminate and borate glasses

Internal friction in sodium phosphoaluminate and borate glasses was investigated by torsion pendulum, beam vibration and pulse-echo methods. The Arrhenian relationship was verified in a frequency interval covering eight decades. A detailed analysis of the first peak was made to obtain the distribution of relaxation times and the distribution of activation entropy ΔS and activation enthalpy ΔH. The log-normal distributions were further compared to the Doremus theory and the observed discrepancy discussed.     

Dielectric relaxation in iron-containing borate glasses

The ac and dc conductivities, dielectric constant and dielectric loss of a series of calcium borate glasses containing Fe₂O₃ up to 10 mol% were measured as a function of temperature (300–700 K) and frequency (10²–10⁵ c/s). Glasses melted in platinum crucibles were found to show slightly higher dielectric constants and conductivities than glasses melted in zirconia crucibles under the same melting conditions. Relaxation effects with a distribution of relaxation times were observed for all the glasses of this system. The data show that the pre-exponential factor τ₀ is about 10^?11 s. Peaks in tan δ were found to shift to higher temperatures when the frequency of measurements was increased. Activation energy for dc conduction was found to be equal to that of ac conduction. No polarization effects were observed in these glasses, indicating that conduction is predominantly electronic.     

The effect of copper ions addition on structural and optical properties of zinc borate glasses

Glasses in the ternary system xCuO?(100 ? x)[55B₂O₃·45ZnO] (0 ≤ x ≤ 20 mol%) have been prepared by melting at 1200 °C and rapidly cooling at room temperature. The effect of copper ions addition in 55B₂O₃·45ZnO glass matrix together with the matrix effect on paramagentic behavior has been investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, differential thermal analysis (DTA), electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), ultraviolet–visible (UV–VIS) spectroscopy and density measurements. The increase of the number of non-bridging oxygen (NBO) atoms as a function of CuO content in these glasses leads to the decrease of glass polymerization which reduces the stability of the glasses and favors the association of copper ions in clusters. This leads to the major changes of structural and optical properties of the studied glasses as can be seen from the data obtained by FTIR and EPR spectroscopies.     

A study of optical absorption in some sodium titanium silicate glasses

A series of glass specimens was prepared from mixtures of SiO₂, TiO₂ and Na₂O, and their optical absorption coefficients measured as functions of photon energy in the range 2.1–3.3 eV. From the results, values of the optical energy gap are calculated and found to be dependent on the glass compositions. The results are analysed in terms of a mechanism of optical absorption arising from forbidden indirect transitions.     

Structure of lithium borate and strontium borate glasses with high modifier contents

The structure of lithium borate and strontium borate glasses with high Li₂O and SrO contents was examined using the experimental results of ESR and the optical absorption of Cu²⁺ ions, and the Mössbauer spectra of Fe³⁺ ions and Raman spectra of these glasses. The results indicate the existence of non-bridging oxygens belonging to orthoborate and pyroborate groups, structural groups of diborate and high pressure forms of metaborate above 30 mol% of the modifier contents in these glasses. Among these four structural groups, the diborate group rapidly decreased with an increase of the modifier contents, while the other three groups increased with an increase of the modifier contents.     

Sintering and crystallization of titanium-containing lead borate glasses

The sintering and crystallization of glass powders with chemical composition 47 PbO—38 B₂O₃—15 TiO₂ (mole %) was investigated under non-isothermal conditions by shrinkage measurements, differential thermo-analysis (DTA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), dielectric measurement and positron annihilation (Doppler broadening). The correlation between changes of macroscopic properties and positron annihilation results recommends this method for the detection of structural changes in glasses.     

Alkali diffusion and electrical conductivity in sodium borate glasses

The diffusion coefficient of sodium, ²²Na, and silver, ¹¹⁰Ag, and electrical conductivity for sodium borate glasses (4–24 mol% Na₂O) has been measured from 100°C to slightly below the glass transition temperature, T_g. Unlike silicate glasses where the self-diffusion coefficient is much larger than the impurity diffusion coefficient, D_Na and D_Ag had close to the same magnitude in the sodium borate glasses. In some glasses, D_Ag was slightly larger than D_Na. Na₂O-Ag₂O-B₂O₃ glasses show a relatively small mixed alkali effect, despite the significant mass difference between Ag(≈108) and Na(≈23). It is concluded that the mixed alkali effect is more dependent upon the difference in ionic radii rather than differences in mass.     

Rheological properties of potassium barium borate glasses

Several series of potassium barium borate glasses have been investigated as to their rheological properties.It has been found, that all these glasses show deviations from ‘Newtonian’ behaviour below temperatures corresponding to viscosities of 10¹⁰ poises. The activation energies of viscous flow are linear in both the potassium and barium mole percentages.For the ternary systems the pre-exponential factors of the viscosities do not decrease considerably with increasing metal ion content, contratry to what has been found in binary systems.     

Boron speciation and non-bridging oxygens in high-alkali borate glasses

High-resolution ¹¹B MAS NMR has become a routine approach for quantifying three- and four-coordinate borons in borate glasses. However, its usefulness in probing finer structural details, such as differentiating amongst trigonal borons, has been limited by severe peak overlap. We apply ¹¹B multiple-quantum (MQ) magic-angle spinning (MAS) NMR to high-alkali borate glasses, to separate signals from trigonal borons with varying numbers of non-bridging oxygens (NBOs). A comparison between lithium and cesium borate glasses at 41 and 47 mol% alkali oxide reveals significant differences in the types of trigonal borons present, as well as the degree of structural disorder. The spectral signature of NBO-bearing trigonal boron is clearly apparent in the cesium borate glasses, but is obscured in the corresponding lithium borates, both because of greater disorder and a lower population of such sites. Isotropic projections of the two-dimensional MQMAS data sets are consistent with progressive network depolymerization, as expected for increasing alkali loading. ¹¹B MQMAS of a lithium borate invert glass (71 mol%) shows remarkable resolution of trigonal borons with two and three NBOs. These species are quantified and found to be in good agreement with the charge-balance requirements at this Li⁺ concentration.     

Mixed isotope electrical conductivity in lithium borate glasses

Electrical conductivity of (Li⁶/Li⁷)₂O·3B₂O₃ glasses with varying Li⁶/Li⁷ ratios has been measured as a function of temperature. The conductivity obtained after complex impedance analysis decreases continously and the activation enthalpy increases slightly as Li⁷ is substituted for Li⁶. This suggest that the difference in mass of the alkali ions is not the cause of the mixed alkali effect.     

The mixed alkali effect in lithium-sodium borate glasses

The electrical conductivity of a series of 0.35 (Li, Na)₂O·B₂O₃ glasses shows a minimum at the composition Na/(Na+Li)～0.6, which becomes stronger as the temperature is decreased; the activation enthalpy for electrical conductivity shows a maximum at this composition. In general, replacing 1% of the total oxygen concentration by chlorine or bromine (keeping the total alkali content fixed) in these glasses increases the conductivity; fluorine doping has an opposite effect. The mixed alkali effect, expressed in terms of the compositional dependence of the activation enthalpy for conductivity, is enhanced when borate glass is doped with fluorine, but is slightly diminished when doped with chlorine or bromine. The results are explained in terms of the structure of halogenated alkali-borate glasses, and discussed in relation to the origin of the mixed alkali effect.     

Heat capacities and thermal behavior of alkali borate glasses

The heat capacities of selected glasses in the five alkali borate systems have been measured over a range of high temperatures which includes the respective glass transition regions. The heat capacities per gram atom at 350°K show little variation with composition while those at the low temperature ends of the glass transition, T_g-, show some systematic variations. When compared with the respective 3R values, the heat capacities at T_g- range from about 0.75 for B₂O₃ to values in excess of unity for various alkali borate compositions. The present data on heat capacity have been combined with previous data on the elastic moduli, densities and thermal expansion coefficients to evaluate the Grüneisen constant, γ, for each composition for temperatures around ambient. For B₂O₃, γ has a low value of about 0.25. It decreases with additions of Li₂O and increases with additions of the other alkali oxides.     

Rheological properties of boric oxide and alkali borate glasses

The rheological behaviour of boric oxide and alkali borate glasses has been studied in the region of high viscosity (10¹⁰–10¹³ poise). The change in viscosity of boric oxide glass with the introduction of alkali oxide is in agreement with what is known about the structure of alkali borate glasses.