Study of structures and properties of ZnO-Sb2O3-P2O5-Na2O glasses

The influence of ZnO substitution by 0–12 wt.% Na2O on the properties of ZnO-Sb2O3-P2O5-Na2O glasses has been investigated. The structure and properties of the glasses with the composition of (13.86-x)ZnO-57.93Sb2O3-28.21P2O5−x Na2O (x = 0–12 wt.%) were characterized by infrared spectra (IR), X-ray diffraction and differential thermal analysis (DTA). The results of IR indicated an increase in the intensity of symmetric vibrations of P-O-P bond, which was confirmed by the improvement of water durability with the increasing amount of Na2O in the range of 0–10 wt.%. Substitution of 10 wt.% Na2O led to the weight loss of the glass to 5.93 mg/cm−2 after immersion in deionized water at 50 °C for 24 h. The results of XRD showed that the ability of crystallization decreased, indicating the good thermal stability of the glass. The glass containing 8 wt.% Na2O had the best properties in every respect and might be an alternative to lead based glasses for the applications, providing further composition improvement.