Structural and spectroscopic effects of Ag-[Eu.sup.3+] codoping of Te[O.sub.2]-PbO glass ceramics

• Published in: Journal of materials science 2014-07, Vol.49 (13), p.4620
• Main Authors: Culea, Eugen, Vida-Simiti, Ioan, Borodi, Gheorghe, Culea, Eugen Nicolae, Stefan, Razvan, Pascuta, Petru
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analysis; Ceramic materials; Ceramics; Diffraction; X-rays
• ISSN: 0022-2461; 1573-4803
• DOI: 10.1007/s10853-014-8164-9

Structural and spectroscopic behavior of Te[O.sub.2]-PbO-[Eu.sub.2][O.sub.3] glass ceramics containing small amounts of [Ag.sub.2]O (0.5 mol%) or metallic Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) (0.33 mol%) have been studied by varying their [Eu.sub.2][O.sub.3] content (0-10 mol%). The structural behavior of these samples was investigated by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), SEM microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The average unit-cell parameters, crystallites size, and the quantitative ratio of the crystallographic phases in the samples were evaluated based on XRD data. FTIR spectroscopy data revealed that the Te[O.sub.3] and Te[O.sub.4] are the main structural units of these glass ceramics and their ratio, Te[O.sub.3]/Te[O.sub.4], changes as function of the europium oxide content and the codoping of the samples. Luminescence spectroscopy measurements evidenced the important peaks located at 438, 550, and 722 nm due to the [Pb.sup.2+] ions and at 589 and 611 nm due to the [Eu.sup.3+] ions present in the studied samples. The presence of AgNPs in the studied glass ceramics determines a considerable enhancement of the luminescence bands of [Eu.sup.3+] ions from 589 and 611 nm.