Silver Nanoparticles Included Er<sup>3+</sup>/Sm<sup>3+</sup> Co-Doped Phosphate Glass: Evaluation of Thermal Stability and Infrared Absorption

Abstract

Three lithium-sodium-phosphate glass samples with molar composition of (48.5–x)P2O5-20Na2O-30Li2O-0.5Sm2O3-1.0Er2O3-xAgNPs (where x = 0.01 g, 0.03 g and 0.05 g) are prepared using melt quenching method. The thermal stability and infrared absorption of synthesized samples are evaluated as a function of Ag NPs contents. Thermal and structural characterizations are made using differential thermal analysis (DTA) and Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, respectively. Thermal stability is found to vary in the range of 171 °C to 197 °C. FTIR spectra revealed various characteristic bonding vibrations related to the glass network structures. The IR absorption band around 570 cm-1 is assigned to the P-O-P bending vibrations while the occurrence of bands around 759 cm-1 and 913 cm-1 are allocated to the P-O-P symmetric stretching vibrations. The asymmetric stretching vibrations of (PO3)2- and (PO2)- units are observed around 1045 cm-1 and 1254 cm-1 , respectively. The appearance of a band around 1735 cm-1 is allocated to the free H2O molecules because of moisture attack to the sample. Influences of Ag NPs in the host matrix are analyzed and explained.