Infrared, Raman and XPS spectroscopic studies of Bi2O3–B2O3–GeO2 glasses

Glasses with composition 50Bi2O3–(50 − x) B2O3–xGeO2 (x = 0, 5, 10, 15 mol%) were prepared by conventional melting method. The thermal properties were investigated by differential thermal analysis (DTA) and the structures of the glasses were probed by Infrared, Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results show that density, refractive index and optical basicity increase with the increase of GeO2. The glass transition temperature (Tg), onset crystallization temperature (Tx) and ΔT (Tx − Tg) increase as well. The cut-off edges in ultraviolet and infrared shift to longer wavelength by the addition of GeO2. Infrared, Raman and XPS results indicate that the glass network consists of [Bi–O6] octahedron, [BO3] triangle, [BO4] tetrahedron and [GeO4] tetrahedron and borate oxide mainly exists in [BO3] units. XPS result indicates Ge4+ ions form steady [GeO4] tetrahedra units in the glass network and the number of non-bridging oxygens decreases with the addition of GeO2.

Graphical abstractExperimental and decomposed peaks of O1s photoelectron spectra of BBGE-0 ∼ 3 samples.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide