Photoluminescence and microstructural properties of SiO2–ZnO–B2O3 system containing TiO2 and V2O5

Phase analysis, thermal behavior, microstructure and photoluminescence properties of six specimens in a ZnO–SiO2–B2O3 ternary glass system were investigated by means of DTA, XRD, SEM and PL spectroscopy to reveal the effect of introducing different TiO2 and V2O5 contents to the base glass composition. Both chemicals improved crystallization through reducing the surface energy as well as disrupting the large scale order in the glass network. The optical basicity of every individual metal oxide included in the samples was presented as an estimation of the number of non bridging oxygens (NBOs). Facilitated precipitation of willemite and ZnO due to introducing TiO2 and V2O5 to the base glass compensated for the increase of NBOs and ultimately resulted in the enhancement of width and intensity of the near band edge emission.