Characterization of the Structural Properties of Zinc Phosphate Glass Ceramics Doped with Manganese Ions Following Thermal Treatment

ABSTRACT

Glasses of the MnO_x · (P₂O₅)₄₀ · (ZnO)_60−x system were prepared by the melt-quenching technique and thermally treated for 2 h at 650°C. To describe the influence of thermal treatment on zinc phosphate glass matrix doped with manganese ions, X-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy were used. The X-ray diffraction patterns revealed that the degree of crystallinity gradually decreased with increasing MnO content in the samples up to 5 mol% of MnO₂. The manganese ions were also shown to be captured in the vitreous phase. The infrared spectra confirmed that the glass network underwent changes following thermal treatment. The spectra of thermally treated samples contained new peaks and the infrared bands become narrower compared to those of the untreated samples.

KEYWORDS:

• Heat treatment
• infrared spectroscopy
• manganese ions
• X-ray diffraction
• zinc phosphate glasses and glass ceramics

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge Prof. Dr. Eugen Culea from Technical University of Cluj-Napoca for his help and constructive discussion of this work.