Ceramic crucibles: a new alternative for melting of PbO-BiO1.5-GaO1.5 glasses

• Published in: Journal of non-crystalline solids 2003-05, Vol.319 (3), p.304-310
• Main Authors: GARCIA DOS SANTOS, Iêda Maria, MARTINS MOREIRA, Rafael Carlos, GOUVEIA DE SOUZA, Antonio, LEBULLENGER, Ronan, HERNANDES, Antonio Carlos, LEITE, Edson Roberto, PASKOCIMAS, Carlos Alberto, LONGO, Elson
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Disordered solids; Exact sciences and technology; Glasses (including metallic glasses); Infrared and raman spectra and scattering; Materials science; Optical properties and condensed-matter spectroscopy and other interactions of matter with particles and radiation; Physics; Specific materials
• ISSN: 0022-3093; 1873-4812
• DOI: 10.1016/S0022-3093(02)02055-0

PbO-Bi2O3-Ga2O3 glasses present interesting properties such as good transmission in the mid-ir region, high magnetic Verdet constant and non-linear properties. The processing of these heavy-metal-oxide (HMO) glasses is limited by the high corrosive nature of the melt, even in relation to noble metal crucibles. In this work, three kinds of ceramic crucibles (Al2O3, SnO and ZrO2) were tested for melting HMO glasses. The main physical properties of the prepared glasses, such as the characteristic temperatures, optical transmission were studied in function of the crucible nature, time/temperature melting parameters. The incorporation of crucible material in the glasses was determined by ICP and atomic absorption. The maximum glass contamination from the crucible was 2.9, 1.6 and 3.6 mol% for Al2O3, SnO2 and ZrO2 crucibles, resp., when melting was done at 900 C/240 min, for ZrO2 crucibles and at 1000 C/60 min, for the other two crucibles. The evolution of the physical properties was discussed as a function of contamination degree. 8 refs.