The effect of zinc oxide on the physical and optical characteristics of calcium oxide containing boro-tellurite glasses

Abstract

Glassy system with a chemical compositions of xZnO-10CaO-30TeO2-(60-x)B2O3 (x = 0 to 20 mol% with stepwise 5 mol%) was synthesized by conventional melt quenching method. The non-crystallinecharacter of the produced glasses was verified by X-ray diffraction analysis. Variations in the molar concentration of additional ZnO resulted in a densityrange of 3.19–3.77 g/cm3 for the current glasses. Through analysis of Ultraviolet Absorption spectrum, optical properties like cut-off (λc) optical energy band gap (Eopt), Urbach energy (ΔE),refractive index were determined. The cut-off wave length (λc) was increased, whereas, indirect band gap energy decreased with addition of ZnO content. The Urbach energy (ΔE) of the present glasses increased with ZnO content which confirms more disorderness. As the amount of ZnO in the glass system changed, the refractive index shifted from 2.23 to 2.30 with changing of ZnO content. The FTIR spectra confirmed the structural changes with increasing ZnO content. The higher refractive index values of the studied glasses and the presence TeO2 and ZnO enables the prominence of the glasses for NLO and antimicrobial applications.