Effect of the zinc substitution on the physical and optical properties of tellurium vanadate glasses

Abstract

In this communication, we report the physical and optical properties of xZnO-(60-x)TeO2-40V2O5 (x = 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40 mol%) glass systems. The glasses were prepared using the melt-quenching method. The amorphous nature of the glass systems was confirmed using powder X-ray diffraction. We have elucidated the changes in the rigidity and elastic moduli of the glass system as a function of composition. These changes were measured in terms of changes in the physical parameters like density, molar volume, and packing density of the glasses. The elastic moduli of the glass systems, like Young's modulus, bulk modulus, shear modulus, longitudinal modulus, and Poisson's ratio, were estimated using Makishima-Mackenzie's theory. The changes in the elasticity of the present system were correlated with the structural changes occurring in the glasses by adding ZnO at the expense of TeO2. The optical properties of the glass system were found by means of diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. Using Kubelka Munk method, the corresponding band gap energy and Urbach energy of the glass system were estimated. The present investigation sheds light on understanding the concentration effect of ZnO in the glass network.