Thermal, mechanical and Raman studies on mixed alkali borotungstate glasses

Mixed alkali burotungstate glasses with xLi(2)O-(30-x)Na2O-10WO(3)-60B(2)O(3) (0 <= x <= 30) composition were prepared by melt quench technique. The amorphous phase of the prepared glass samples was conformed from their X-ray diffraction and SEM studies. Differential scanning calorimetry and Raman spectroscopic studies were employed to investigate the structure of all the prepared glasses. The elastic moduli and Debye temperature were calculated in terms of Makishima-Mackenzie model. Acting as complementary techniques, Raman measurement revealed that the network structure of the present glasses is mainly based on BO3 and BO4 units placed in different structural groups. Raman spectra confirms the presence of tungsten ions mainly as WO6 groups. In the present work, the mixed alkali effect (MAE) has been investigated in the above glass system through modulated DSC studies. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.