Novel plaster waste glass for solid state lighting applications

Industrial plaster waste (PW) which consists of high majority SiO2 as a source was used to fabricate glass. A novel glass containing 30PW-(64.5- x) B2O3- xNa(2)O-0.5Sm(2)O(3)(where x = 5, 10, 15, 20 mol%) and 30PW-(40-x) B2O3-30Na(2)O- x Sm2O3 (0 <= x <= 1.5 mol%) has fabricated using industrial plaster waste as silica source doped with Sm3+ ions and studied their optical behavior for solid state lighting applications by subjecting the glasses to several spectroscopic measurements and applying the well-known Judd-Ofelt theory to bring out their significance in the field of optical devices. Optical absorption spectra were recorded and investigated for the signature of Sm3+ ions. Judd-Ofelt parameters show Omega(4)>Omega(6)>Omega(2) for (5 mol% Na2O) low alkali content glass and Omega(2)>Omega(4)>Omega(6) for (30 mol% Na2O) high alkali content glass. Photoluminescence of low alkali content in the Sm3+ ions doped glass show blue shift in their peak position than compared to rich alkali content in the Sm3+ ions doped glass. Radiative properties were evaluated using JO parameters. Stimulated emission cross-section shows higher value for rich alkali content than low alkali content and also compared with other glasses. The energy transfer parameter for N1 glass is lower than F4 glass and both these glasses showed quadrupole-quadrupole interaction between Sm3+ ions. R-0 (critical distance) of donor Sm3+ ions-acceptor Sm3+ ions separation for 30PW-64.5B(2)O(3)-5Na(2)O-0.5Sm(2)O(3) (N1) is larger than 30PW-39.5B(2)O(3)-30Na(2)O-0.5Sm(2)O(3) (F4) glass. Lifetime analysis, Commission International de L'Eclairage (CIE) chromaticity diagram and correlated color temperature (CCT) values were evaluated. From the data obtained from the investigations, we conclude that the industrial plaster waste could be used for manufacturing glasses which are useful to solid state lighting device applications.