Structural studies of WO3-TeO2 glasses by high-Q-neutron diffraction and Raman spectroscopy

Glasses from the system: xWO3-(100-x)TeO2 (x=15, 20 and 25 mol %) were prepared by melt quenching technique and characterized by density, UV-visible absorption spectroscopy, Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Raman spectroscopy and high-Q neutron diffraction measurements. Glass density and glass transition temperature increased with increase in WO3 concentration, Raman spectroscopy indicated the conversion of TeO4 units into TeO3 units with increase in WO3 content. The increase in glass transition temperature with the incorporation of WO3 was attributed to the increase in average bond strength of the glass network since the bond dissociation energy of W-O bonds (672 kJ/mol) is significantly higher than that of Te-O bonds (376 kJ/mol). UV-visible studies found a very strong optical absorption band due to W6+ ions, just below the absorption edge. High-Q neutron diffraction measurements were performed on glasses and radial distribution function analyses revealed changes in W-O and Te-O correlations in the glass network. The findings about changes in glass structure from neutron diffraction studies were consistent with structural information obtained from Raman spectroscopy and structure-property correlations were made. (author)