Composition-structure-property effects of antimony in soda-lime-silica glasses

Chen, T.-Y. and Rautiyal, P. and Vaishnav, S. and Gupta, G. and Schlegl, H. and Dawson, R.J. and Evans, A.W. and Kamali, S. and Johnson, J.A. and Johnson, C.E. and Bingham, P.A. (2020) Composition-structure-property effects of antimony in soda-lime-silica glasses. Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, 544: 120184. ISSN 0022-3093

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Abstract

Float glass-type SiO 2-Na 2O-CaO glasses with 0 – 10 mol% Sb2O3 were melted and their compositional, structural, thermal and optical properties characterised. All glasses were X-ray amorphous and increasing Sb2O3 content progressively decreased glass transition temperature (Tg) and dilatometric softening point (T d), despite increases in Al2O3 content from greater crucible corrosion. 121Sb Mössbauer spectroscopy confirmed that Sb was predominantly incorporated as Sb 3+ (Sb 3+/ΣSb ~ 0.9) and Raman spectroscopy showed that Sb substantially decreased average (Si, Al)-O Qn speciation. Both techniques confirmed that Sb3+ ions were incorporated in trigonal pyramidal [:SbO 3] polyhedra. XRF and Raman spectroscopies confirmed that SO 3 content decreased with increasing Sb2O3 content. TGA analysis showed, as a linear function of Sb2O3 content, mass gain commencing at 700°C, reaching a maximum at 1175°C, then mass loss above 1175°C, consistent with oxidation (Sb3+ → Sb5+) then reduction (Sb5+ → Sb3+). The TGA samples were shown to have attained or approached Sb redox equilibrium during measurement. Optical absorption spectroscopy (UV-Vis-nIR) showed red-shifts of the UV absorption edge with increasing Sb 2O 3 content, consistent with increasing intensity of far-UV absorption bands from Sb3+ and Sb5+ s→p transitions. UV-Vis-nIR fluorescence spectroscopy evidenced a broad luminescence band centred at ~25,000 cm−1, attributed to the 3P 1→ 1S 0 transition of Sb 3+, which is Stokes shifted by ~15,000 cm −1 from the 1S0→ 3P1 absorption at ~40,000 cm−1. The most intense emission occurred at 0.5 mol% Sb 2O3, with concentration quenching reducing luminescence intensities at higher Sb 2O3 contents. Additions of Sb2O3 to float-type soda-lime-silica glasses could thus enable lower melting energies and/or new solar energy applications.