Ultrasonic and FTIR Investigations of PbO-Bi2O3-SiO2 Glass System

Recently, it has been found by the authors that heavy metal oxide based glasses are the potential candidates as substitute for conventional concretes as gamma-ray shielding materials. Glasses have the advantage as compared to concrete due to (1) their transparency to visible light (2) they can be prepared in wide range of compositions thus enhancing the possibility of choosing the elements and their mole fraction as per choice. During the investigations, it has been found that there should be improvement in brittleness and elastic properties of the glasses. Aim of present study is to get the information regarding the acoustical behavior and structure properties of one of the heavy metal oxide glasses. Glass samples of the xPbO (0.60-x) Bi₂O₃ 0.40 SiO₂ system (x=0.10 to 0.50) were prepared by melt quenching technique and characterized by X-ray diffraction, ultrasonic velocity and FTIR measurements. Mole fraction percentage of PbO has been varied from 10 to 50%. The longitudinal velocities of ultrasonic waves were measured in these glass samples at 5 MHz using pulse echo technique. FTIR spectrum has been recorded in the wave number range of 400 to 2000 cm^-1. Their data for density, molar volume, infrared spectra and ultrasonic properties were analyzed in order to study their structure systematically. It is estimated that the data may provide the clues which may improve the mechanical properties of the glass samples.