Novel selenium containing boro-phosphate glasses: Preparation and structural study

• New P2O5-CaO-B2O3-SeO2 glasses synthesized by conventional melt quenching method.
• Evidences for the Se ions modifier role in the local structure by FT-IR and XPS.
• Significant advances in understanding the structural properties of the new system.

We synthesized a new boro-phosphate glass system with different %mol SeO2 content by conventional melt quenching technique. All samples were obtained in a glassy state with the vitreous structure confirmed by X-ray diffraction analysis. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed some non-homogeneous domains on the glasses surface, and their tendency to link each other once the selenium oxide content increases. Energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX) indicated similar elemental composition in different regions of each sample. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used to determine the nature of chemical bonding and the elemental composition at the sample surfaces, and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy was used to determine the structural groups in the obtained glass structure. Based on FT-IR results, the glass structure at short range order consists mainly of small phosphate units such as pyrophosphate (i.e. P2O74 − dimmers or terminating groups at the end of phosphate chains) and some metaphosphate (i.e. PO3− middle groups in the phosphate chains) units. The boron atoms are mainly placed in three-coordinated sites in BØ3 or BØ2O− units. A small contribution of BØ4− units was also detected from the FT-IR spectra of glasses. For SeO2 content higher than 5 mol%, the modifier role of selenium ions is strongly reflected on the local structure dominated in this case by pyrophosphate units.