The effect of Tb4O7 on Thermal, Optical, and Fluorescent Properties of New Borate-Lanthanum Glasses

Fluorescent glass shows promising applications in solar cell covers with high mechanical properties and effective wavelength conversion. By high-temperature feeding melting-pouring-annealing integration synthetic technique, (58-x)B 2 O 3 -25La 2 O 3 -8.5CaO-3.5ZnO-3SiO 2 -xTb 4 O 7 (x = 2–9 mol%) glass was fabricated to examine the impact of Tb 4 O 7 concentration. These glasses exhibited high thermal stability (T g > 670 °C), along with excellent optical properties, including a refractive index >1.7 and transmittance reaching 85%. The fluorescent properties optimized through excitation spectroscopy, emission spectroscopy, fluorescence lifetime measurement and auxiliary XPS testing, which demonstrated that 3 mol % Tb concentration of sample yielded the most favorable results. Micro-area fluorescence testing revealed that the coefficient of variation of the fluorescence intensity integral was 1.65%, indicating the sample had decent fluorescence uniformity. These results provided important guidance for the design of fluorescent glasses with superior service performance and luminescent properties.