Study of structures and properties of ZnO-Sb2O3-P2O5-Na2O glasses

The influence of ZnO substitution by 0 – 12 wt.% Na2O on the properties of ZnO–Sb2O3–P2O5–Na2O glasses has been investigated. The structure and properties of the glasses with the composition of (13.86–x)ZnO–57.93Sb2O3–28.21P2O5-xNa2O (x = 0 – 12 wt.%) were characterized by infrared spectra (IR), X-ray diffraction and differential thermal analysis (DTA). The results of IR indicated an increase in the intensity of symmetric vibrations of P–O–P bond, which was confirmed by the improvement of water durability with the increasing amount of Na2O in the range of 0 – 10 wt.%. Substitution of 10 wt.% Na2O led to the weight loss of the glass to 5.93 mg/cm-2 after immersion in deionized water at 50 °C for 24 h. The results of XRD showed that the ability of crystallization decreased, indicating the good thermal stability of the glass. The glass containing 8 wt.% Na2O had the best properties in every respect and might be an alternative to lead based glasses for the applications, providing further composition improvement.