Effect of niobium as a network former in lithium phosphate glasses: Structure and physicochemical properties

• Grant number: 24/15058-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: October 01, 2024
• End date: September 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Materials and Metallurgical Engineering - Nonmetallic Materials
• Principal Investigator: Edgar Dutra Zanotto
• Grantee: William Hideo Teyo Sato
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Exatas e de Tecnologia (CCET). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 13/07793-6 - CEPIV - Center for Teaching, Research and Innovation in Glass, AP.CEPID

Abstract

The addition of niobium as a mixed glass former can lead to unique properties and significant advances in materials science, and is of great relevance for understanding and predicting the behavior of glassy materials. This scientific initiation project aims to characterize and analyze the properties of lithium phosphate glasses that incorporate niobium in their composition, in order to investigate their structural changes and the effect on their physicochemical properties. The research will concentrate on the preparation and characterizing of series of lithium phosphate glasses containing niobium, evaluating the variation in glass transition temperature, glass forming ability, density, refractive index, fragility index, ionic conductivity and activation energy, and Raman spectroscopy. Therefore, the expected results include identifying optimized glass compositions for high ionic conductivity and high refractive index and understanding, at the atomic level, the factors that lead to these characteristics.