Thermal and structural properties of Nd2O3-doped calcium boroaluminate glasses

Nd3+ doped CaO-Al2O-B2O3-CaF2 glasses were prepared by conventional melt-quenching technique, and their structural and thermal properties were studied. The amorphous nature of these samples was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The measured density showed an increase with Nd2O3 doping, at the expense of CaO. Raman spectra presented changes with addition of Nd2O3, which indicated that the network structure of the glasses studied presented various borate groups, such as tetraborates, metaborates, ortho-borates and pyroborates units. The N-4 values calculated from FTIR spectra revealed that incorporation of Nd2O3 into glass network converted the structural units from BO4 to BO3. From the analysis of DTA curves, we verified that T-g increased with the addition of Nd2O3; it was similar to the behavior caused by modifier oxides in the structure of borate glasses. Besides that, the calculated glass stability T-x-T-g for doped samples presented a decrease if compared to the undoped glass. Specific heat and thermal conductivity did not present significant changes with Nd2O3 concentration, up to 2.30 mol.%. The results of density, DTA, Raman and FTIR reinforced the idea that Nd2O3 acted as network modifier.