Lanthanide-doped phosphate glasses show promising applications due to their improved mechanical, optical, and radiation shielding properties. This review examines the effects of lanthanide and other dopants on defect formation and radiation response, emphasising advancements in material performance. Lanthanide ions have unique electronic structures that affect the types and distributions of defects within the glass matrix. This significantly alters the properties, such as luminescence, mechanical stability, and radiation resistance. A comprehensive understanding of how the defects relate to the dopant concentration and glass structure is crucial for optimising these materials for applications in radiation shielding, photonic devices, and medicine. This study compiles essential insights on defective behaviour and its impact on glass performance under radiation, creating a framework for developing advanced phosphate glass materials with adjustable properties for high-stakes environments.

This study focuses on the preparation and characterization of dysprosium (Dy3+)-doped borosilicate glass, using degraded silica gel (DSG) as a network former instead of high-purity silica. The glasses were synthesized using the melt quenching method at 1200 degrees C and the chemical formula (69-X)B2O3-18Li2O-12BaO-XDSG-1.0Dy2O3, where X represents the concentration of degraded silica gel. The resulting glasses absorbed photons across ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared wavelengths. The optimal DSG concentration for maximum photoluminescence was determined to be 10 mol%, which produced a color-correlated temperature (CCT) range of 4077-4649 K, exceeding the warm CCT threshold of 4000 K. The CIE color coordinate chart suggests that these samples are suitable for laser and white-light applications. The I-H model (with S = 6) confirmed dipole-dipole interactions during the energy transfer between Dy3+ ions. The glasses exhibited lifetimes in the millisecond range. Additionally, we prepared glass samples with varying Dy2O3 content in a suitable host (10Silicagel XDy glasses), maintaining the optimal DSG concentration at 10 mol%. The photoluminescence showed clear emission characteristics of Dy3+, closely resembling the radioluminescence spectra. Under excitation at lambda Ex = 387 nm, the developed glass exhibited two strong emission peaks at 576 nm (4F9/2 -> 6H13/2) and 484 nm (4F9/2 -> 6H15/2). The results showed that the glass doped with 1.0 mol% Dy2O3 had the highest emission intensity, confirming that degraded silica gel is a promising alternative to high-purity SiO2 for producing efficient, luminescent, and environmentally friendly white-light optical materials.

This study presents a new way to make luminescent glass doped with SiO2 components using recycled silica gel waste from laboratories and ball milling and melt-quenching methods. A study is conducted on the optical, photoluminescence, and X-ray luminescence characteristics of glasses doped with recycled silica gel waste (RSGW); (69-Y)B2O3-18Li2O-12BaO-YRSGW-1.0Sm2O3 (Y= 0-60 mol%) and Sm2O3-doped; (40-Y) B2O3-18Li2O-12BaO-30RSGW-YSm2O3 (Y= 0-2 mol%). The glass samples undergo characterization using several spectroscopic techniques under standard ambient conditions. The density and refractive index of the YSilicagelSm glasses increase, while their molar volume value decreases with the increase in RSGW content in the glass system. Furthermore, the absorption spectra display the hypersensitive transitions 6H5/2 -> 6P3/2 and 6H5/2 -> 6F7/2 in the visible and near-infrared ranges, respectively. The glasses exhibit four prominent transitions that are indicative of the Sm3+ ion as a result of photoluminescence and X-ray luminescence. Among these, the 4G5/2 -> 6H7/2 (at 600 nm) transition is the most intense. Photoluminescence and X-ray luminescence suggest the highest emission intensity occurs in the host composition containing 30 mol% RSGW. According to the CIE 1931 chromaticity diagram, this glass produces a reddish-orange illumination. A further experiment was prepared with a host glass (40-Y)B2O3-18Li2O-12BaO-30RSGW-YSm2O3 with varying Sm2O3 concentrations. The results from both luminescence experiments support that the concentration of Sm2O3 increases up to 1.0 mol% and then decreases, which is the appropriate quenching concentration of Sm3+. This not only offers another way to repurpose waste but also presents interesting novel possibilities for materials science and photonics research.

In this study, recovered silica gel waste (RSGW) is used as a key raw material to create borosilicate glass doped with Eu3+ ions in a new and environmentally friendly way. The glass compositions were fabricated using the melt quenching method, with different amounts of RSGW and a constant 1.0 mol% Eu3+ doping concentration. The study shows that increasing the doping concentration of RSGW improves the glass density and rigidity while reducing the molar volume, indicating enhanced glass stability. Photoluminescence and X-ray luminescence analyses confirm that the optimal composition with 50 mol% RSGW exhibits the strongest emission. Based on the phonon sideband analysis, the host glasses have a phonon energy of 966.53 cm− 1. An X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) analysis showed that most of the europium ions were in the 3+ oxidation state. The CIE 1931 chromaticity investigation shows the x,y color coordinates at (0.645, 0.351) in the reddish-orange region. To optimize the doping concentration of Eu2O3, it was determined that a fixed concentration of 50 mol% RSGW created the most suitable mixture. Both luminescence emission spectra exhibit strong luminescence, with a peak emission wavelength of 615 nm (⁵D0→⁷F2), confirming concentration quenching in both photoluminescence and x-ray luminescence at a concentration of 1.0 mol%. The study explores potential applications of this novel material in photonics and suggests that this eco-friendly synthesis approach holds great promise for sustainable and efficient production of reddish-orange emission materials.

The ZnO and CeO2 nanostructures were prepared via a thermal decomposition process. The CeO2–ZnO nanocomposites with various CeO2 quantities of 0–5 mol

We present the results of an investigation that aimed to optimize the conversion of silica degradation from silica gel into glasses in hopes of reducing the amount of harmful chemical waste that is released into the environment. Glass samples were created by moderate- temperature melting process at 1200 degrees C, with the system combination of (69-x)B 2 O 3 - 18Li 2 O - 12BaO - xRSGW-1.0Tb 2 O 3 , where x = 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 mol%, and RSGW stands for recovered silica gel waste. The chemical recycled silica gel waste was characterized using x-ray fluorescence (XRF) to determine its chemical composition. The recovered silica gel waste (RSGW) was employed in the manufacturing of glass in the role of a network former due to the considerable amount of SiO 2 that it contains. The optimal concentration of RSGW in the glass matrix is 30 mol% to achieve the highest excitation and emission intensities in photoluminescence and X-ray luminescence. The spectroscopic characteristics of borosilicate glass doped with Tb 3+ were investigated to show the influence of rare-earth ion additives on the composition, luminescence, and color of the materials. Green emissions of Tb 3+ (544 nm, 5 D 4 -> 7 F 5 ) was seen in Tb-doped glass when excited at 223 nm, 377 nm (under UV excitation). The color coordinates of the International Commission on Illumination chromaticity show the same shade of green color under different Tb 3+ concentrations (under 377 nm). The results of radioluminescence support the trend observed in the emission spectra. The concentration quenching of Tb 2 O 3 in (40-y)B 2 O 3 - 18Li 2 O - 12BaO - 30RSGW-yTb 2 O 3 glass is y = 1.0 mol% and suitable for use in light -emitting optoelectronic devices that emit the color green.

The phosphate-based glasses doped with Gd3+ and Dy3+ ions were fabricated by melt quenching at 1200 degrees C. The physical, structural, and luminescence properties that would suggest they are potential candidates for scintil-lating materials have been examined. The density and molar volume of glasses increase with increasing Gd3+ concentration. The absorption peaks indicate the Dy3+ energy transition from the 6H15/2 ground state to several excited states such as 6P7/2 (350 nm), 6P3/2 (364 nm), 6F7/2 (387 nm), 6G11/2 (426 nm), 6I15/2 (452 nm), 6F5/2 (807 nm), 6F7/2 (906 nm), 6F9/2 (1100 nm), 6H9/2 (1285 nm), and 6H11/2 (1697 nm), respectively. According to the findings, when compared to a commercially available BGO crystal, the highest value of x-ray luminescence spectrum intensity was observed at 17 mol% of Gd2O3, with 15.42% of the integral scintillation efficiency. However, the photoluminescence spectra show the maximum value at 13 mol% of Gd2O3 content with excited at 275 nm and 350 nm, while the decay time (tau) tends to decrease with increasing Gd2O3 content. Interestingly, the local structure study was conducted through XANES and EXAFS analysis to understand the local environment of Gd and Dy atoms. The XANES result indicated that the oxidation states of the Gd and Dy ions in the sample glass were +3. The EXAFS fitting parameters showed Debye-Waller factors (sigma 2) of 17 mol% of Gd2O3 as the highest value that represents a more asymmetric environment around Gd/Dy. Moreover, the EXAFS fitting indicates a short distance of Gd-Gd at 13 mol% Gd2O3 content is indicative of their efficient internal energy transfer be-tween Gd-Gd.

In this work, the mechanism of the transition state of electron transfer reaction on the surface of the ZnO nanoparticles-based gas sensor has been investigated. The deposited ZnO nanoparticles thick films on glass slides had been synthesized by the current heating method and modified its surface by coating novel metals of gold and palladium with a sputtering technique with different sputtering times of 45-180 s. Field emission electron microscopy (FE-SEM), x-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) were used for the characterization of ZnO nanoparticle thick films. After that, the reflectance spectra of films were investigated using Near-IR spectroscopy in the range of 900-2500 nm to study the surface absorption efficiency. The decrease in reflectance spectra was observed for conditions over 90 s of sputtering time. The particle size distribution and zeta potential of ZnO nanoparticles were analyzed using the dynamic light scattering technique for the calculation of particle size and the electrical charge potential. The results showed that the size particle distribution ranged from 155 to 245 nm and the more extensive range of 360-1100 nm. The optimized zeta potential of-14.44 mV was exhibited at the sputtering time of 45 s. Finally, the gas sensing mechanism in terms of surface charge density was proposed and used to explain the sensitivity enhancement of both resistive and capacitive gas sensors.

A new glass system of lithium borate doped with Gd2O3 and Pr2O3 has been fabricated using a conventional melt quenching technique. The physical parameters, such as density, molar volume, and refractive index, were measured and found to increase as the concentrations of lanthanide oxide (Gd2O3 and Pr2O3) in the glass increased, revealing the underlying structural changes. According to the results of XRD and FTIR, the synthesized glasses exhibited an amorphous structure, and borate complexes served as the triangular BO3, tetrahedral BO4, and OH group amounts in oxide glass. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra show characteristic emission bands resulting from f-f transitions of Pr3+ ions. The strongest emission occurred at 603 nm, corresponding to the transition from the 1D2 state to the 3H4 state. The optimal concentration of Gd2O3 for maximizing emission intensity was found to be 5.0 mol%, and this concentration will be used in the next experiment with varying Pr2O3 concentrations. In the subsequent experiment, emission spectra were recorded by exciting the glass with light at wavelengths of 445 nm, 469 nm, and 483 nm. The resulting emission spectra displayed the characteristic pattern associated with the emission of Pr3+. This emission peak at 603 nm represented the strongest intensity in the spectra, which is a common characteristic of Pr3+ emission. The emission intensity of the glasses initially increases with increasing concentrations of Pr2O3 up to 0.3 mol%, but beyond this concentration, the emission intensity starts to decrease. This behavior indicates the occurrence of a quenching effect at the 0.3 mol% concentration of Pr2O3. X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) analysis confirmed that praseodymium ions were predominantly in the 3 + oxidation state. The chemical composition of the created glass was confirmed to be suitable for photonics applications.

Owing to the confinement of ZnO in the photocatalytic application: the wide bandgap, the rapid photogenerated carriers recombination, and the expensive cost for the catalyst separation from the wastewater, the p-n heterojunction of NiFe2O4 magnetic phase and ZnO is considered to improve the photocatalytic efficiency and the catalyst separation by the external magnetic. The NiFe2O4/ZnO composites with 0-12 wt% of NiFe2O4 were prepared by an ordinary process and characterized using XRD, Raman, SEM, EDS, TEM, HRTEM, UV-Vis spectroscopy, and PL techniques. The Raman spectra confirm the crystallinity of ZnO and NiFe2O4, including their defects. As increasing NiFe2O4 incorporation, the crystallite size of ZnO phase depicts a lower value with changing from 53.14 to 40.49 nm, whereas NiFe2O4 phase reveals a greater value of 60.61-141.55 nm. The dislocation density, lattice constants, and atomic coordinates are also discussed in terms of ion diffusion. The morphology analysis reveals ZnO particles on the surface of NiFe2O4 microcrystals, confirming the p-n heterojunction formation. The energy bandgap of the as-synthesized samples is in the range of 1.52-2.85 eV, suggesting to the visible light photocatalysis. The prominent PL spectrum indices the forming of Zn interstitial defect state. Under the visible light irradiation, the dye degradation was investigated as a result of the photoreduction percentage and catalyst dosage. With prepared by a facile process, 12 wt% NiFe2O4-loaded ZnO displayed the high methylene blue degradation of 96.96 % within 150 min under visible light irradiation, confirming an excellent photocatalyst. Due to the microstructural composite, the active surface site and the p-n heterojunction were elucidated as the principal mechanism for the difference in reaction time. The dye degradation was discussed in association with the structural constants, morphology, and defects.

The typical melt quenching technique was utilized to produce a possibly unique series of Gd3+ and Er3+ dual doped borate glasses with a composition of 25Li2O-5Al2O3-XGd2O3-(69.0-X)B2O3-1.0Er2O3. The amorphous nature and information on chemical bindings of the materials were validated by using fundamental characterization techniques such as X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared, X-ray absorption near-edge structure, and optical screening to identify their features (absorption, excitation, and emission). The refractive index of the glasses improves from 1.5487 to 1.628 as the concentration of Gd2O3 increases. The optical absorption spectra of Er3+ doped glasses were measured from the ultraviolet (UV) through the visible (Vis) and near infrared (NIR) ranges with varying Gd2O3 concentrations in order to determine their optical properties. This luminescence was found to be predominant in photoluminescence spectra, which were obtained at an optimum doping Gd2O3 concentration of 7.5 mol%. The impact of Er3+ doping was assessed through photoluminescence, which exhibited a broad, intense NIR band at 1537 nm ascribed to the 4I13/2 -> 4I15/2 transition of Er3+ ions at lambda Ex = 486, 526, 651, and 978 nm excitation, which exhibits outstanding increased intensity with the Er3+ concentration until it reaches 1.0 mol %. A look at visible and near-infrared optical, it is observed that LAGd7.5BEr1.0 glass is a more potential candidate for photonic devices.

Near-infrared luminescence properties of dual doped Gd3+/Nd3+-incorporated glasses were manufactured using the melt-quenching technique and characterized by several techniques. The modification in glass structure may be seen in the differences in density, molar volume, and refractive index that occur when the amount of lanthanide oxide in the glass increases. The spectroscopic properties of Nd3+ in these glasses are quite well understood, and the observed optical characteristics may be used to process and eventually determine laser properties. According to the results of XANES, the Nd oxidation state remains the predominant peak for Nd3+ in all of the samples. The transition from 4I9/2 to 4G5/2 +2G7/2 is important for the strongest band in the absorption spectra, which can be seen at 584 nm. The luminescence spectra show peaks caused by 4F3/2→4IJ (J=11/2, 13/2) at three excitation wavelengths of 526, 574 and 805 nm. After the processing, we created glass samples for the study of photoluminescence with various amounts of Nd2O3 incorporated into the best host, 25Li2O-5Al2O3-2.5Gd2O3-(67.5-X)B2O3-XNd2O3. Based on luminescence intensity, it is determined that 1.0 mol% of Nd2O3 is the concentration quenching in the studied glasses. The 4F3/2 →4I11/2 transition at 1069 nm, excited by 526, 578 and 803 nm, has the highest emission intensity. The combined findings of the glasses demonstrate that near-infrared luminescence may be successfully used with them. All of the analysis shows that the dual doped Gd3+/Nd3+ borate glass would be a potential solid-state laser candidate.

Abstract The intrinsic defect of ZnO depicts a crucial role in the charge transfer owing to the suppression of the exciton recombination, exhibiting superior semiconducting performance. In this study, the intrinsic defect of ZnO nanostructures prepared by direct thermal activation of 300–900 °C was investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was employed to analyze phase, crystallite size, Zn–O bond length, and dislocation density. The relation of Williamson–Hall (W–H) was used to calculate crystallite size and micro-strain. The atomic coordination was approximated through the Rietveld method. Morphology and crystal growth investigation was carried on by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and tunneling electron microscope (TEM), exhibiting rod-like nanostructures transform to oval shape particle with high residual strain when increasing calcination temperature, exhibiting the crystal growth direction of (101). Specific surface and pore analysis reveals a significant value corresponding to SEM analysis. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) detected Zn–O stretching vibration bands, presenting a notable increase in the intensity when heat at 600 °C. Relating to the thermal regime, energy bandgap (Eg) was found to be 3.41–3.50 eV as increasing heat treatment temperatures. Photoluminescence (PL) was applied to determine intrinsic defects through emissive spectra. The surface charge was determined through the zeta potential measurement. The photo-induced dye degradation was measured to understand the effect of the defect in semiconductors. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) confirms the wurtzite structure appearance, including the intrinsic defects. The observed intrinsic defects are discussed, associating with the structural constants, emissive spectra, cationic dye degradation, and binding energy.

Phase formation, phase composition and structure analysis are essential in understanding the properties of the mixture. This work presents the phase formation and transition of delafossite CuAlO(2 )with Mg incorporation (0-10 mol%), prepared by a thermal decomposition synthesis. Due to various operating temperatures and dopant concentrations, the X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis exhibited a phase difference, observed as CuAlO2, CuAl2O4 and CuO. Pristine CuAlO2 preparation was achieved at a firing of 1200 ? for 6 h. Crystallite size and micro-strain of obtained products were approximated by Williamson-Hall and size-strain plot method. Morphology transformation was examined by scanning electron microscope (SEM), showing a surface roughness change depending on the phase composition. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) detected Cu-O and Al-O bonding vibration spectral bands, confirming CuAlO2 formation. The energy bandgap (Eg) was found in the range 3.87-3.98 eV as Mg adding 0-10 mol%. The effect of dopant incorporation and phase transition causes the variation of Eg. Photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL) exhibited the near band-edge emission (NBE) at 311 nm (3.99 eV), observing Mg interstitial defect state at 340 nm (3.65 eV) and deep oxygen defect state at 558 nm (2.22 eV). The optical characteristics associating with the dopant and phase component are also discussed.

Chromium ferrite-doped barium zirconate titanate multiferroic materials in (1-x)BaZr0.1Ti0.9O3 - (x)CrFeO3; BZT-CF) system, when x = 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 mol%, were prepared by the solid-state reaction technique. Phase formation, lattice parameter, and electronic state of materials were characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD) and x-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (XANES) techniques. It was found that the undoped BZT ceramic showed a single tetragonal phase without the secondary phase. However, CF-doped BZT ceramic at 2-10 mol% reveals that the tetragonal phase was changed to the orthorhombic phase. Lattice parameter and dislocation density have increased with increasing CrFeO3 content, representing the crystal structure's imperfection in interesting material. The magnetic and magnetoelectric of materials were characterized by the vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) technique. It was found that all-ceramic exhibits a paramagnetic behavior. However, all doped ceramics showed a magnetic field response value better than undoped, with a maximum magnetodi-electric coefficient (ME) of 18.3 x 10(-3) at 2 mol% of CF-doped.

In this study, the porous lightweight geopolymer used lignite fly ash (FA) and rice husk ash (RHA) derived from the local source. The prepared geopolymer slurry was a mixture of FA, RHA, and alkaline solution activators which consisted of Na2SiO3 and 10 M of NaOH solution. RHA was applied to replace FA content in the 10-50% ratio by weight. The ratio of solid (fly ash and rice husk ash) and liquid (Na2SiO3 and NaOH) is 0.6, while the ratio of Na2SiO3 and NaOH is 3. Powder of sponge was employed to create the porous geopolymer materials in 0.5 % by weight. The fresh slurry was poured into cube plastic molds for porous geopolymer casting. Then, the porous geopolymer was cured at 60 oC for 48 hours and 7 days at room temperature. After sintering at 700 oC for 2 hours, the specimens were examined. The micrographs of surface characteristics show an enlarged pore size with increasing RHA amount, corresponding to the % shrinkage/expansion of the specimens. The XRD patterns shows an increase in quartz content by increasing RHA. The water absorption increases with increasing the amount of RHA, related to the porosity. It was found that the amount of RHA can improve the physical properties of geopolymer materials which increases the porosity value when increasing the amount of RHA.

The physical and optical properties of glasses for solid-state lighting applications are being investigated. The melt quenching procedure at 1200 degrees C was used to create the Gd3+ and Sm3+ ions using doped phosphate-based glasses. Gd2O3 and Sm2O3 concentrations increased density, according to the findings. For the alteration in the glass, the intensity of molar volume rose, indicating the establishment of a non-bridging oxygen (NBO) network. The absorption spectra migrated from H-6(5/2), the ground state, to different states with wavelengths ranging from 300 to 1700 nm. When the energy transfer from the IH model is at its greatest at 11 mol% Gd3+ con-centration, photoluminescence spectra exhibit four emission peaks ranging from (4)G(9/2) to H-6(5/2), H-6(7/2), H-6(9/2), and H-6(11/2), respectively. The maximum photoluminescence spectra intensity was 1 mol% of Sm2O3, which was compared to bismuth germanium oxide (Bi4Ge3O12; BGO) crystal at 10.33% by x-ray excitation. The color of orange emission is determined by the CIE 1931. The Judd-Ofelt (JO) parameter (Omega(lambda) (lambda = 2, 4, 6)) have been used by evaluated Judd-Ofelt theory and trend were Omega(4) > Omega(6) > Omega(2). As a result, doped phosphate base glasses with Gd3+ and Sm3+ ions have property requirements, and cost-cutting production is the best option for solid-state lighting applications.

Barium titanate (BaTiO3) has been recognized as an important perovskite ceramic since its discovery due to its excellent dielectric, ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties. Its modifications have been studied in many perspectives depending on applications. In this review, the basic principles of BaTiO3 were described, then followed by the explanation on the recent modifications of BaTiO3 to improve the dielectric properties. Relaxor ferroelectric behavior of BaTiO3 was revealed by combining BaTiO3 with other Bi-based perovskites. These modified- BaTiO3 opened the opportunities for emerging energy storage applications. Next, the modifications for ferroelectric and ferromagnetic aspects were further discussed. BaTiO3 can also be doped by other ions to enhance such properties. Solid solution between Bi-based perovskites such as BiFeO3, (Bi0.5K0.5)TiO3, or Bi(Zn0.5Ti0.5)O3 and BaTiO3 can also improve ferroelectric and ferromagnetic properties. Therefore, these details of recent BaTiO3 modifications may provide guidance for the next BaTiO3 investigations in order to gain the maximum benefits from BaTiO3.

The standard melt-quenching technique was used to create a novel series of Gd3+ and Sm(3+)co-doped borate glasses with the LAGdxBSm1.0 and LAGd2.5BSmx series of glasses. All samples were analyzed by XRD, FTIR, and optical screening to determine their characteristics (absorption, excitation, and emission). The results confirmed the amorphous nature of the synthesized glass samples, while the FTIR revealed the existence of BO3, and BO4 vibrations in the samples. The series glass quality of LAGdxBSm1.0 doped in the host matrix was confirmed by the radioluminescence and photoluminescence results at the optimal doping concentration of 2.5 mol%. The decay of samples was investigated to determine the relationship between doping concentration and luminescence characteristics. Glasses have been created into an appropriate lighting glass using 25Li(2)O-5Al(2)O(3)-2.5Gd(2)O(3)(67.5-X)B2O3-XSm2O3 host matrix glass doped with varying concentrations of Sm3+. Visible light and nearinfrared absorption values in the glass samples demonstrate the existence of Sm(3+)ions. The photoluminescence and radioluminescence spectra have high concentration quenching (0.5 mol%) and produce four emission peak wavelengths, with the maximum emission wavelength at 600 nm (soft orange color). Based on these results, the studied glass series could be a good choice for X-ray scintillators in medical, industrial, and other settings in the future.