Obtenção de partículas de telúrio em vidros de teluritos contendo óxido de antimônio como agente redutor

Abstract

In this work different glasses obtained from the NaPO3 – Sb2O3- TeO2 system were investigated with the aim to verify the structural and spectroscopy properties of this system. The presence of tellurium particles was also observed through the reduction action of antimony oxide when heated, via the Sb2O3 – Sb2O4 phase transition during the production of glasses and also, via the heat treatment of the obtained glasses. The proposal reveals a very little explored field that deserves attention according to the possibility of obtainment of new vitreous compounds that contains a great variety of particles (metal-glass composites), which can lead to a number of new nanostructured particles to be explored. Through the spectroscopic study of TeO2 – Sb2O3 binary glasses it was possible to observe the structural evolution of tellurium oxide when in the presence of the glassy network modifier, in this case, antimony oxide. The intrinsic oxidation process that occurs when the Sb2O3 is heated promoted the reduction from Te4+ to tellurium, Te0. This can be observed in the surface of the glass for the compositions which higher amount of antimony oxide, as well as through the Raman Spectroscopy, Scanning Electronic Microscopy images and Differential Scanning Calorimetry curves. The glasses become dark as the amount of Sb2O3 increases and through the heat treatment, simultaneously to the reduction of Te. Raman and X-ray diffraction measurements show the darkening of the studied samples, revealing the photosensitivity of the NaPO3-Sb2O3-TeO2 system. Through the heat and spectroscopic study performed in the obtained samples it was possible to understand the structural process and crystallized phases which happened in different glasses.