The morphology of lead-borate glasses and nanocomposites doped with iron oxide

The topography of iron-doped borate glasses and glass-ceramics were studied. Samples of composition of xFe2O3–(100 − x)(B2O3–2PbO) (2.5 < x < 37 in mol%) were prepared by the conventional meltquenching technique. The melting was conducted in alumina crucibles at the temperature of 1523 K. The melts were poured on a preheated (573 K) brass plate and pressed by an another plate to obtain flatcircular samples of 1–2 mm thickness and 20–30 mm in diameter. The quenched pellets were annealed at the temperature of 673 K for 3 h and cooled with the furnace. The microstructure of all samples was determined by means of atomic forcemicroscopy at their fresh fractureswith the use of NT-MDT Ntegra AFM. Detailed information can be found in: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ssi.2014.01.042