New alkali antimonate glasses

Glass formation has been investigated in ternary systems Sb₂O₃-PbO-M₂O in which M is alkali Li, Na and K and antimony oxide is the glass former. Alkali elements were introduced as carbonates. The size of the glass forming region is enlarged as alkali ionic radius increases. Binary Sb₂O₃-M₂O glasses were obtained: (100−x) Sb₂O₃-xLi₂O, (10<x<30), (100−x) Sb₂O₃-xNa₂O, (10<x<70), and (100−x) Sb₂O₃-xK₂O, (10<x<90). In ternary systems, PbO content could reach 60 mol%. Temperatures of glass transition, T_g, onset of crystallization, T_x, and maximum of crystallization, T_p, have been measured using differential scanning calorimetry. Depending on composition, glass transition temperature ranges from 240 to 330 °C. The incorporation of alkali oxide increases T_g while lead oxide has the reverse effect. Thermal stability range (T_x-T_g) was usually between 65 and 266 °C, while no crystallization exotherm was observed in some cases. Density and thermal expansion increases as lead concentration increases. Optical transmission has been measured. The UV cut-off depends on alkali content: samples are yellow and turn green for large K and Na content. These glasses have potential applications as low phonon energy glasses for infrared transmission or active devices.