Solid-state synthesis of Nd-doped glass: thermal collapse of Nd3+-incorporated NaY zeolites

Abstract

A solid-state synthesis of Nd-doped glass (NDG) in the acquisition aspect from the thermal collapse of Nd³⁺ ion-exchanged NaY zeolites has been conducted through experiments. The idea of rational design of the “perfect” NDG has been proven to be conceptually and practically feasible. The solid-synthesis method in comparison with the traditional molten-salt method has potential advantages of achieving “perfect” distribution, i.e., Nd³⁺ can be well-dispersed in the zeolite precursor and the final solid-state glass. The phase transformation from the Nd³⁺-exchanged zeolite NaY to Nd-doped glass was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), describing the migration and constraint of Nd³⁺ ions in the solid-state synthesis process. The fluorescence properties of the solid-state synthesized Nd-doped glass were also examined, and the results show that there is an optimized Nd³⁺ concentration associated with effective photoluminescence. The strategy of the solid-state process is possible to be applied to the synthesis of other functional glassy materials.