A Novel Barium Borate Glasses for Optical Applications

Optical properties of xBaO–5ZnO–5MgO–14Na2O–1Li2O–(75x)B2O3 glasses (where x = 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 mol %) were performed using a UV-Visible spectrophotometer in the spectral range 190–1100 nm. Various optical parameters such as optical band gap, Urbach energy, refractive index, electronic polarizability and optical basicity were deduced. The glassy phase of the samples was checked using X-ray diffraction. The density was measured at room temperature by the conventional Archimedes principle. Additionally, many structural parameters like, molar volume, inter-ionic distance, barium ion concentration and oxygen packing density were calculated based on the density results. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) in the wavenumber range 1600–400 cm −1 was carried out to identify the spectral contribution of each component on the structure and to point out the role of the barium ions as a modifier of the glass network. The results reflected that addition of BaO in ZnO–MgO–Na2O–Li2O–B2O3 glasses creates of non-bridging oxygen in the glass network. The present glasses possess high refractive index and high electronic polarizability. Hence, the reported glasses can find applications in the areas of optical materials.