Modification of structural and physical properties of samarium doped zinc phosphate glasses due to the inclusion of nickel oxide nanoparticles

A series of nickel oxide (NiO) nanoparticles (NPs) embedded samarium (Sm3 +) doped zinc phosphate glass of the form (58 − x)P2O5-40ZnO-1Sm2O3-xNiO, with x = 0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 mol% are synthesized via melt quenching technique and the influence of NPs (at fixed concentration of Sm3 +) on their overall behaviors are examined. XRD pattern verifies the amorphous nature of prepared glass samples. TEM images reveal the existence of NiO NPs with average size ~ 8 ± 1 nm. Physical properties such as glass density (2.8 ± 0.1-3.0 ± 0.1 g cm− 3), molar volume (42.2 ± 0.1-40.6 ± 0.1 cm3 mol− 1) and hardness (173.2 ± 0.1-465.1 ± 0.1 Hv) are all found to increase with the increase of NPs concentrations. The absorption spectra exhibit surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peak of NiO centered at 433 nm. The vibrational modes are obtained using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and Raman analyses. Four major IR absorption bands centered at 723, 916, 1081 and 1280 cm− 1 are evidenced. Raman spectra display two significant peaks at 708 and 1201 cm− 1 attributed to the symmetric and asymmetric stretching vibrations of POP bridging oxygen in Q1 units and non-bridging oxygen (NBO) in Q2 units respectively. NPs assisted alteration in structural and physical properties are majorly attributed to the strong local field effect in the proximity of rare earth ion, generation of NBO ions and energy transfer. Our observation may contribute towards the development of NPs embedded rare earth doped glass photonics.