Short-range structure and thermal properties of lead tellurite glasses

PbO-TeO2 glasses having composition: xPbO–(100 - x)TeO2 (x = 10, 15 and 20 mol%) were prepared by melt quenching and characterized by X-ray diffraction, density measurements, differential scanning calorimetry and Raman spectroscopy. Glass density increases from 5.89 to 6.22 g cm-3 with increase in PbO concentration from 10 to 20 mol%, due to the replacement of TeO2 by heavier PbO. DSC studies found that glass transition temperature (Tg) decreases from a value of 295°C to 281°C. Raman studies found that glass short-range structure consists of TeO4 and TeO3 structural units and that PbO modifies the network by the structural transformation: TeO4 to TeO3.