Investigation of structural, optical and transport properties of MoO3-PbO-B2O3 glasses

Heavy metal based oxide glasses of compositions xMoO3·(40 − x)PbO·60B2O3 have been prepared by the standard melt-quenching technique. The various properties such as the glass transition temperature (Tg), density, theoretical optical basicity, IR and DC conductivity have been studied. Amorphous nature of the present system was estimated by XRD patterns. The decrease in the density (d) and glass transition temperature (Tg) is due to the lower degree of cross-bonding between the Molybdenum and non-bridging oxygen ions resulting in a weakening of glass network. The structural changes in these glasses have been monitored by IR spectroscopy. The effect of temperature on the DC conductivity has been measured in the temperature range 473-623 K for all the compositions. The existence of a polaronic hopping conduction mechanism between Mo5+ and Mo6+ cations suggested that these glasses act as purely electronic semiconductor glasses. The values of theoretical optical basicity of these glasses have also been presented.