Glasses Al2/3O–TeO2, ZnO–TeO2 and R2/3O–ZnO–TeO2 (R
= Al, B) were prepared by melting in Pt crucibles and studied for
correlations between structure and thermal as well as mechanical properties,
whereby the glass composition is varied to tailor the short-range
speciation of tellurite, aluminate, and borate groups. The glass structure
was studied by Raman and infrared spectroscopy analyses, and the measured
properties include glass-transition temperature (T
g), density (ρ), and ultrasonic longitudinal (V
L) and transverse (V
T) velocities. In addition, atomic packing density (C
g), elastic moduli, and Poisson’s ratio (σ)
were evaluated from the measured properties. It was found that Al2/3O leads to cross-linked alumino-tellurite networks by strong
Te–O–Al bonds, which cause a profound enhancement in T
g. The influence of ZnO and B2/3O
on T
g is relatively smaller due to the
weaker cross-linking effects of ZnO4 tetrahedra and of
Te···O–B bonds. Short-range bonding characteristics,
interatomic bonding energy differences, and atomic packing density
were found to have a strong effect on V
T and mostly on the V
L sound velocity.
The combined effects of structure and bonding are nicely expressed
in the composition dependence of Poisson’s ratio; it exhibits
decreasing trends with Al2/3O content in the binary and
ternary glasses studied here, but increasing trends with ZnO and B2/3O additions in glasses ZnO–TeO2 and B2/3O–ZnO–TeO2, respectively. The results
for Poisson’s ratio and atomic packing density for the studied
glasses were found to fit nicely in the global σ versus C
g correlation established previously for a range
of glasses not including tellurites so far. Finally, the sound velocities
and Poisson’s ratio of pure TeO2 glass were determined
for the first time and found to differ markedly from those in the
literature for TeO2 glass melted in alumina crucible; this
is because the latter glass is highly doped by Al2O3 leached from the alumina crucible.