Preparation and elastic moduli of germanate glass containing lead and bismuth

Abstract

This paper reports the rapid melt quenching technique preparation for the new family of bismuth-lead germanate glass (BPG) systems in the form of (GeO 2) 60-(PbO) 40-x-(1/2Bi 2O 3) x where x = 0 to 40 mol%. Their densities with respect of Bi 2O 3 concentration were determined using Archimedes' method with acetone as a floatation medium. The current experimental data are compared with those of bismuth lead borate (B 2O 3) 20-(PbO) 80-x-(Bi 2O 3) x. The elastic properties of BPG were studied using the ultrasonic pulse-echo technique where both longitudinal and transverse sound wave velocities have been measured in each glass samples at a frequency of 15 MHz and at room temperature. Experimental data shows that all the physical parameters of BPG including density and molar volume, both longitudinal and transverse velocities increase linearly with increasing of Bi 2O 3 content in the germanate glass network. Their elastic moduli such as longitudinal, shear and Young's also increase linearly with addition of Bi 2O 3 but the bulk modulus did not. The Poisson's ratio and fractal dimensionality are also found to vary linearly with the Bi 2O 3 concentration. © 2012 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.