Structure and properties of calcium iron phosphate glasses

The structural properties of xCaO–(100 − x) (0.4Fe2O3–0.6P2O5) (x = 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 mol%) glasses have been investigated by XRD, DTA, IR and Raman spectroscopy. XRD analysis has confirmed that the majority of samples are X-ray amorphous, and EDS analysis indicates that the glass matrix can accommodate ≈30 mol% CaO. IR and Raman spectra show that the glass structure consists predominantly of pyrophosphate (Q1) units. IR spectra indicate that the phosphate network is depolymerized with the addition of CaO content. The density and glass transition temperature (Tg) increase with increasing CaO content for the glasses. This behavior indicates that the addition of CaO improves the strength of the cross-links between the phosphate chains of the glass.