Effect of Rare-Earth Ions on the Optical and PL Properties of Novel Borosilicate Glass Developed from Agricultural Waste

Abstract

There is considerable attention devoted to the use of agricultural waste as a raw material substitute for commercial silica in the development of borosilicate glasses doped with rare earth oxides. Here, we present a novel structure for borosilicate glasses made from rice husk ash with a 25% molar ratio of extracted SiO2 and doped with neodymium (GRN) or dysprosium (GRD). Adding rare earth oxides to borosilicate glasses by the melt quenching method enhanced optical transmission due to the presence of their tetrahedral geometries. GRN samples showed few bands near zero, which constitutes good utility for band rejection filters in image devices, and the samples exhibited energy values ranging from 3.03 to 3.00 eV before and after gamma irradiation. Optical transmissions of GRD samples showed peaks at 25,974, 22,172, 13,333, 11,273, 9302, 7987, and 6042 cm−1. Deterioration in transmittance was observed when the investigated samples were exposed to irradiation doses of 20 and 50 kGy in the wavenumber range of 12,500 to 50,000 cm−1; however, different behaviors after irradiation with 50 kGy caused an increase in transparency in comparison to 20 kGy irradiation, which was pronounced for higher wavenumbers (greater than 12,500 cm−1). Photoluminescence emission and excitation spectra of the glass-doped Nd3+ (GRN) and glass-doped Dy3+ (GRD) samples were determined. GRD exhibited emission in the blue and yellow regions of the visible spectrum, which gave a white flash of light. Chromaticity coordinate (CIE) measurements of GRD samples indicated the origin of its luminous color relative to the standard white light region.