New elaboration of Na 2 O-B 2 O 3 -SiO 2 glass doped with CdS nanocrystals from gel formed in aqueous solution

A new route for preparing a CdS doped sodium borosilicate glass from a gel formed in an aqueous solution is described. This elaboration process allows the preparation of a gel which starts densifying at 400°C just after the Cd sulphurizing process ensuring the protection of crystallites from oxidation. The densification of the matrix is completed at the fusion temperature (730°C), which is low enough to reduce the coalescence of the crystallites. Microstructural and optical characterization of the CdS doped glasses indicate that the crystallite size depends upon the Cd concentration. A model to calculate the crystallite size from optical absorption spectra is proposed. It indicates that the average sizes of crystallites range from 11 nm for a concentration of 0.03 mol% Cd to 3.7 nm for 0.016 mol% Cd.