Microwave synthesis and physical characterization of tin(II) phosphate glasses

• Published in: Journal of materials science Vol. 45; no. 11; pp. 2916 - 2920
• Main Authors: Hémono, Nicolas, Chenu, Sébastien, Lebullenger, Ronan, Rocherullé, Jean, Kéryvin, Vincent, Wattiaux, Alain
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01.06.2010; Springer; Springer Nature B.V; Springer Verlag
• Subjects: Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemical composition; Chemical Sciences; Chemistry and Materials Science; Classical Mechanics; Crystallography and Scattering Methods; Depolymerization; Devitrification; Diamond pyramid hardness; Dielectric properties; Dielectrics; Elastic properties; Fracture toughness; Glass transition temperature; Material chemistry; Materials Science; Mechanical properties; Microwaves; Modulus of elasticity; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Organic chemistry; Oxidation; Phosphate glass; Phosphates; Phosphorus pentoxide; Polymer Sciences; Solid Mechanics; Synthesis; Temperature; Thermal expansion; Tin; Tin oxides; Weight loss; Fracture Toughness; Glass Composition; Phosphate Glass; Melting Time; Glass Transition Temperature
• ISSN: 0022-2461; 1573-4803
• DOI: 10.1007/s10853-010-4283-0

Tin phosphate glasses in the SnO–P 2 O 5 binary diagram have been prepared by using a domestic microwave-heating device. Microwaves provide an extremely facile and automatically temperature-controlled route to the synthesis of glasses due to the specific dielectric properties of each chemical composition. Typical melting time is no longer than 10 min, limiting the oxidation of Sn 2+ and the melt can be quenched into glass. The glass transition temperature increases with the SnO content confirming the depolymerization of the vitreous network, as expected by the relative fraction of the different Q n structural units deduced from NMR experiments. Concerning the mechanical properties, the Vickers hardness and the fracture toughness decrease while the thermal expansion coefficient and the different elastic moduli remain constants. These results confirm that those characteristics are not very sensible to structural considerations. On the contrary, the chemical durability of Sn 2 P 2 O 7 , determined from the weight loss method, is 300 times higher than that of Sn(PO 3 ) 2 . Furthermore, Sn 2 P 2 O 7 is the only glass composition that exhibits a devitrification phenomenon leading to the low-temperature phase of the crystalline tin(II) pyrophosphate.