Investigation on structural and optical properties of SLS–ZnO glasses prepared using a conventional melt quenching technique

Zinc oxide soda lime silica, (ZnO) x (SLS) 1−x glasses were synthesized using conventional solid-state melt quenching in water technique. The addition of zinc oxide (ZnO) into soda lime silica (SLS) glass had caused the reduction of glass melting temperature, transition temperature and crystallization temperature. The composition of the glass was studies using EDXRF spectrometry. Glassy nature of the glass samples was confirmed using X-ray diffraction measurement. Various vibrational modes were determined from the region of 400–4000 cm −1 for the investigated (ZnO) x (SLS) 1−x glasses using fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. It was revealed that the incorporation of ZnO into the SLS glass network had caused the rearrangement of the glass bonding and splitting of Si–O–Si bonding that would enhance the formation of non-bridging oxygens (NBOs). The formation of more NBOs had resulted in an increment in the density and molar volume, whereby the optical band gap of the (ZnO) x (SLS) 1−x glasses was decreased from 3.66 to 3.42 eV.