Open Access

ARTICLE

Impact of aluminum fluoride addition on crystallization, structure and thermal properties of lead borate glasses

Yu. S. Hordieiev^*, A. V. Zaichuk

Ukrainian State University of Chemical Technology, 8 Gagarin Avenue, Dnipro, 49005, Ukraine

* Corresponding Author:

Chalcogenide Letters 2024, 21(3), 243-253. https://doi.org/10.15251/CL.2024.213.243

Received 19 December 2023; Accepted 07 March 2024;

Abstract

The glass composition (70-x)PbO–(30-y)B₂O₃–(x+y)AlF3, where x and y ranges from 0 to 20 mol%, were prepared using the conventional melt-quenching-annealing technique. The structural and thermal properties of the glasses were comprehensively analyzed using techniques like Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA), Dilatometry, Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). XRD confirmed the amorphous, non-crystalline structure of the glasses. The glass network was found to be composed of structural units such as PbO₄, BO₄, BO₃ and AlO₆ using FTIR spectroscopy. FTIR analysis revealed significant structural changes, including the transformation of BO₄ to BO₃ units and the increase in non-bridging bonds, particularly with higher AlF₃ content. DTA was instrumental in determining characteristic temperatures, such as the glass transition, melting, and peak crystallization temperatures, along with glass stability parameters (∆T, Hr, T_gr) for all samples. The study found that the addition of AlF3 led to a decrease in these characteristic temperatures when replacing B₂O₃, but an increase when replacing PbO. Variations in the density and thermal expansion of the lead borate glass were observed upon the addition of AlF₃, decreasing when substituting for PbO and increasing when substituting for B₂O₃. These findings provide insights into the properties of oxyfluoride glasses, paving the way for future optimization in their composition for varied applications.

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