Synthesis and characterization of zinc oxide incorporated iron borate glass-ceramic

Abstract

Here, zinc oxide (ZnO) incorporated iron borate (Fe<inf>3</inf>BO<inf>6</inf>) glass-ceramics have been synthesized using the traditional melt-quenching technique, and the role of ZnO has been investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) reveals that the prepared samples have a single crystalline phase and crystalline nanostructures, respectively. The orthorhombic crystal structure has been retained without the formation of a new crystalline phase. The addition of ZnO is found to distort the Fe<inf>3</inf>BO<inf>6</inf> lattice by substituting Zn2+ in the Fe3+ sites, with the formation of ZnO<inf>6</inf> structural units as revealed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). FTIR and Raman spectroscopy conducted to study the structure of glass-ceramic, have also revealed the formation of other structural units like ZnO<inf>4</inf>, BO<inf>3</inf>, BO<inf>4</inf>, and FeO<inf>6</inf> in the system. Surface analysis conducted by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) reveals that the addition of ZnO diminishes the formation of surface B<inf>2</inf>O<inf>3</inf> layer which forms over the Fe<inf>3</inf>BO<inf>6</inf> phase in the Fe<inf>3</inf>BO<inf>6</inf> iron borate glass-ceramic system. ZnO addition has also shown a remarkable difference in the volume of the crystallization in the system, thereby paving the way for controlled crystallization in the iron borate glass-ceramic system. The controlled crystallization was achieved through additive content, retaining the iron borate (Fe<inf>3</inf>BO<inf>6</inf>) glass-ceramic system without the evolution of any secondary phases even with large additive concentrations up to 10 mol%. © 2019 Elsevier B.V.