Effect of ZnO and MoO3 Addition on Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Tellurite Glasses

Abstract

In the present study, zinc‐molybdenum‐tellurite glasses are prepared and their thermal, thermo‐mechanical, viscous, and mechanical properties for mid‐IR molded glass lens applications are studied. From the thermal analysis, it is found that the glass transition temperature, onset crystallization temperature, and stability parameters slightly increase with an increase in ZnO content in both series of glasses. Thermal expansion coefficient decreases from 16.56 to 14.67 × 10−6 K−1 as the ZnO content increased from 10 to 30 mol%. For fixed 10 mol% of MoO3 content, Knoop hardness slightly decreases from 3009 to 2842 MPa as ZnO content increases from 10 to 30 mol% whereas it increases for 20 mol% of MoO3. The results indicate that the addition of ZnO and MoO3 contents into the tellurite glass system increases bridging oxygen contribution and in turn network compactness of tellurite matrix.