Raman spectra of rapidly quenched glasses and melts containing large amounts of Li2O

Raman spectra were measured of rapidly quenched glasses and the corresponding liquids in binary and ternary (pseudobinary) systems composed of Li₂O and several glass-forming oxides such as B₂O₃, P₂O₅, and/or SiO₂. The fractions of the various structural units present were determined from the deconvoluted Raman peaks. Glasses with large amounts of Li₂O were composed of discrete structural units such as ortho-oxoanions and pyro-oxoanions. Based on these data the structural units in the glasses and the corresponding liquids were identical, although in some cases those in the corresponding crystals were different. In the pseudobinary systems combining pyro-oxosalts of lithium borate, phosphate and silicate, non-bridging oxygens were preferentially formed at the phosphate structural units rather than at the borate or silicate structural units. This order of preference was consistent with that of the acidity of the glass-forming oxides in the liquids.