Thermal properties and microstructural characterization of vanadium germanate glasses

Thermal and microstructural characterization investigations of (1-x) GeO₂ - x V₂O₅ (x=0.10, 0.30, 0.42 and 0.60 in molar ratio) glasses were carried out using differential thermal analysis (DTA), X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. Effects of heating rate and vanadium content on the glass transition, crystallization and melting temperature were investigated. XRD results have indicated that α-GeO₂, β-GeO₂, V₂O₅ crystal phases were formed when the samples were annealed above the crystallization peak temperature. SEM/EDS investigations were conducted for the microstructural characterization of α-GeO₂, β-GeO₂, V₂O₅ crystal phases.