LAUSR

Abstract Soda Lime Silica (SLS), mainly composed of SiO2, was utilised in this study as the source of SiO2 for fabrication of glass. A study of physical and optical properties was performed for the glass system of x [RmOn] (0.50−x) [ZnO] 0.20 [B2O3] 0.30 [SLS], where RmOn are Bi2O3 and PbO with x = 0.05, 0.10, 0.20, 0.30, 0.40, and 0.45 mol. The glass was prepared by melt-quenching method. Optical properties of the glass samples were obtained using UV–visible absorption measurements. The main objective of this study was to compare the structural, polarizability, and optical properties of these two series synthesized silica based glass. The structure of the glass system was determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The density and molar volume were found to increase as Bi2O3 and PbO concentration increased. The optical band gap, Eopt values for bismuth glasses were between 2.58 and 2.92 eV and varied from 2.42 to 2.92 eV for lead glasses. The highest concentration of Bi2O3 and PbO in glass system showed the smallest Eopt. Bi2O3 glass exhibit the significant value towards direct or indirect band gap in optoelectronic field compared to PbO glass. Refractive index of glass samples was measured by UV–visible spectrophotometer. The value lay between 2.42 and 2.52 for bismuth glass and 2.42 and 2.57 for lead glass and the value increased as bismuth ion (Bi3+) and lead ion (Pb2+) concentration increased. Metallisation criterion was investigated on the basis of refractive index and band gap. The metallisation criterion of the glass sample linearly decreased with increasing concentration of bismuth and lead ions as a result of increasing number of refractive indices and decreasing number of band gap energy. The positive value of metallisation criterion indicates that the glass materials are insulators or not metallic. In conclusion, the obtained results show that the addition of bismuth oxide in silica glass improved its structural and optical properties compared to lead glass.