Influence of the composition of high-lead phosphate glasses on the location of the UV transmission edge and technological quality

This paper reports on the results of an investigation into the influence of the purity of the initial materials used for preparing vitreous lead metaphosphate, the acidity of the phosphate matrix, and the contents of additives of Group I–III and V elements and the second glass-former on the location of the UV transmission edge of simple binary and ternary lead phosphate glasses. It is shown that, even for a binary glass of the composition (mol %) 50PbO · 50P2O5, the location of the UV transmission edge can be shifted by ∼50 nm on the wavelength scale depending on the purity of the initial reactants. The shift of the UV transmission edge toward the UV spectral range for ternary glasses containing no variable-valence elements other than lead is considerably larger than that for the high-lead phosphate glass of the previously proposed composition involving antimony, niobium, and cerium oxides. It is established that the addition of niobium oxide Nb2O5 to lead phosphate glasses brings about a red shift of the UV transmission edge and a change in the crystallization ability of the glasses. Niobium oxide at a content up to 1.5 mol % increases the crystallization ability of the glass, whereas a change in the niobium oxide content from 1.5 to 3.1 mol % results in a decrease in the crystallization ability. It is demonstrated that the crystallization ability of high-lead phosphate glasses increases at a boron oxide content higher than 5 mol %.