title: Quantification of the boron speciation in alkali borosilicate glasses by electron energy loss spectroscopy.
abstract: Transmission electron microscopy and related analytical techniques have been widely used to study the microstructure of different materials. However, few research works have been performed in the field of glasses, possibly due to the electron-beam irradiation damage. In this paper, we have developed a method based on electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) data acquisition and analyses, which enables determination of the boron speciation in a series of ternary alkali borosilicate glasses with constant molar ratios. A script for the fast acquisition of EELS has been designed, from which the fraction of BO4 tetrahedra can be obtained by fitting the experimental data with linear combinations of the reference spectra. The BO4 fractions (N4) obtained by EELS are consistent with those from (11)B MAS NMR spectra, suggesting that EELS can be an alternative and convenient way to determine the N4 fraction in glasses. In addition, the boron speciation of a CeO2 doped potassium borosilicate glass has been analyzed by using the time-resolved EELS spectra. The results clearly demonstrate that the BO4 to BO3 transformation induced by the electron beam irradiation can be efficiently suppressed by doping CeO2 to the borosilicate glasses.
authors.affiliation: Electronic Materials Research Laboratory, Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education &International Center for Dielectric Research, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, China.
authors.forename: Shaodong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Electronic Materials Research Laboratory, Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education &International Center for Dielectric Research, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, China.
authors.forename: Guang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China.
authors.forename: Yanqi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China.
authors.forename: MingYing
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO), Aarhus University, Aarhus, DK-8000, Denmark.
authors.forename: Jørgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Skibsted
authors.affiliation: Section of Chemistry, Aalborg University, Aalborg, DK-9000, Denmark.|State Key Laboratory of Silicate Materials for Architectures, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430070, China.
authors.forename: Yuanzheng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yue