Synthesis and structural characterization of a glass in the Ag2O-SeO2-MoO3 system

This study continues our previous investigations on non-traditional silver selenite molybdate amorphous materials. A glass containing SeO2, MoO3 and Ag2O was obtained by the melt quenching method in a sealed silica ampoule using Ag2SeO3 and MoO3 as precursors. The real bulk chemical composition of the glass was verified by the LA-ICP-MS method. The amorphous sample was characterized by X-ray diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), UV-Vis, XPS and IR spectroscopy. The as prepared glass was subjected to two different heat treatments: i) at 200 °C for 8h in air and ii) at 300 °C for 4h in a N2 + H2 (80%) gas flow. The obtained results were different depending on the heat treatment conditions. By IR analysis the main units building up the amorphous network were found to be SеО3 and MoO6. The XPS spectroscopy reveals the existence of bridging oxygen bonds (MoOMo) and mixed bridging bonds (AgOSe and SeOMo). It was established by UV-Vis that the absorption edge of the glass is about 540 nm. It was also found that the silver plasmon resonance band appeared about 380 nm.