Incorporation of zirconia and germania and ternary compounds of ZrO2-GeO2 into silica sol-gel matrices

Silica sol-gel glasses were doped with zirconia and germania. Nanoparticles composed from these oxides and the binary oxides Zr-Ge-O were produced within the matrices. XRD, TEM, and XPS studies were used to determine the phase composition and energy of the electronic states of the elements. The optical features of the materials were chracterized by UV/Visible absorption and photoluminescence. Nanoparticles of ZrGeO4 and Zr3GeO8 within the solid matrices were fabricated for the first time.