Formation and optical properties of new glasses within Sb2O3–WO3–ZnO ternary system

Abstract

New Sb2O3-based heavy metal oxide glasses in the Sb2O3–WO3–ZnO ternary system were prepared using a conventional melt-quenching method. The glass-forming domain and physical properties like density, thermal, structural and linear optical properties of the glasses have been investigated. The physical properties of glasses have been studied extensively as a function of WO3 and ZnO concentration (mol%) in the Sb2O3–WO3–ZnO ternary glassy system. It was found that the glass transition temperature increases linearly with WO3 concentration, but thermal stability decreases, while both the glass transition temperature and thermal stability almost linearly increases with ZnO concentration. The glasses within 60Sb2O3–xWO3–(40 − x)ZnO ternary system with x = 10, 15 and 20 were found as most thermally stable glasses. The density and refractive index of these glasses increases as the content of WO3 increases. The available free space in the glass i.e. free volume and optical band gap of the glass decreases with higher concentration of WO3. This work demonstrates that proper composition can lead to effective and beneficial change in physical properties of the Sb2O3-based glasses.