Study of structure and properties of ZnO–Bi2O3–P2O5 glasses

Glasses of the ternary system ZnO–Bi2O3–P2O5 were prepared and studied in two compositional series 50ZnO–xBi2O3–(50 − x)P2O5 and (50 − y)ZnO–yBi2O3–50P2O5. Two distinct glass-forming regions were found in the 50ZnO–xBi2O3–(50 − x)P2O5 glass series with x = 0–10 and 20–35 mol.% Bi2O3. All prepared Bi2O3-containing glasses reveal a high chemical durability. Small additions of Bi2O3 (∼5 mol.%) improve thermal stability of glasses. All glasses crystallize on heating within the temperature range of 505–583 °C. Structural studies by Raman and 31P MAS NMR spectroscopies showed the rapid depolymerisation of phosphate chains within the first region with x = 0–15 and the presence of isolated Q0 phosphate units within the second region with x = 20–35. Raman studies showed that bismuth is incorporated in the glass structure in BiO6 units and their vibrational bands were observed within the spectral region of 350–700 cm−1. The evolution of properties and the spectroscopic data are both in accordance with a network former effect of Bi2O3.