Influence of Sm₂O₃/AgNPs Addition on the Properties of Lithium-Borate Glass-Ceramic System

This work reports the effect of adding Sm2O3 and silver nanoparticles, in small quantities up to 1 mol%, on the optical and structural properties of the B2O3-Li2O glass-ceramic system. The X-ray diffraction patterns of the samples show the presence of small quantities of the B(2)O(3)crystalline phase, in addition to a major amorphous phase. Various structural units like BO3, BO4, and LiO4, present in the samples network, are responsible for the absorption bands from the FT-IR spectra. The optical spectra provided valuable information such as the identification of the observed electronic transitions, the energy gap, the refractive index, and metallization values. The luminescence data show the fact that with the addition of metallic NPs the quenching phenomenon can be observed after 0.5 mol% samarium ions. The studied systems are interesting for optical and semiconducting devices.