Structure of ZnO–Fe2O3–P2O5 glasses probed by Raman and IR spectroscopy

Abstract The structure of three ZnO–Fe 2 O 3 –P 2 O 5 glass series was investigated by Raman and IR spectroscopy. Raman and IR spectral changes with increasing O/P ratio from 2.8 to 3.7 were summarized. Band assignments were carried out according to previous investigations and spectral changes. Spectral changes mainly include relative amplitudes decrease of Raman bands at ~ 1344, ~ 1205 and ~ 705 cm − 1 , relative amplitudes increase of Raman bands at ~ 947 and ~ 1080 cm − 1 , intensification of the overlaps of IR absorption bands in the region of 900–1400 cm − 1 , obvious decrease in relative amplitudes of IR bands at ~ 1351, ~ 1251, ~ 780 and ~ 480 cm − 1 and the shift of the band at ~ 480 cm − 1 to higher wavenumber. These spectral changes have shown a gradual depolymerization of phosphate network and the variation of dominant structural units from Q 2 to Q 1 species with increasing O/P ratio from 2.8 to 3.7. A small quantity of Q 1 , Q 0 and Q 2 species were also detected in our glasses with O/P ratios in the range of 2.8–3.0, 3.0–3.5 and 3.5–3.7, respectively. Our investigations will provide guidance to know the structure of other phosphate glass systems.