A system of zinc tellurite glasses with chemical composition [(TeO2)0.70 (ZnO)0.30]1-x (Nd2O3 NPs)x, where x ranged from 0.01 to 0.05 molar fraction have been prepared and coded as TZND have been fabricated using the melt-quenching technique. The aim was to study the structural, physical, and optical properties of the sample glasses. The choice of the chemical composition was to provide high refractive index, favourable metallization criterion and other optical qualities for linear and non-linear optical applications. The optical properties were studied using the UV-Vis spectroscopic analysis. The density and molar volume were found to increase with Nd2O3 NPs concentration. The FTIR spectral analysis showed the existence of TeO3 and TeO4 structural units which varying concentrations of TeO4 observed with Nd2O3 nanoparticles (NPs). The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis showed the agglomeration of the Nd2O3 NPs in the morphological structure of the glasses. The variations of the optical parameters were mostly related to the variation in the structural nature of the glasses (TeO3 and TeO4 concentration changes). High refractive index value, ranging between 2.5470 and 2.6093, favourable metallization criterion value range of 0.3406 and 0.3535 as well as high polarizabilities and the optical basicity reveal that the glasses have high potential in optical fibre technology as well as optical non-linear (laser) applications.

The aim of this work is to determine the effect of neodymium nanoparticles concentration on the elastic properties of zinc-tellurite glass. A series of neodymium nanoparticles doped zinc-tellurite glass systems (NdNPsZT) of composition= 0.01, 0.02, 0.03, 0.04, and 0.05, were synthesized by using conventional meltquenching method. The amorphous nature of the glass system was confirmed by using XRD analysis. The density of the glass system was determined by Archimedes method. The elastic properties were calculated from the measured density and ultrasonic velocity at 5 MHz frequency. The experimental results showed that the elastic properties rely upon the composition of the glass systems and the impact of neodymium nanoparticles (Nd 2 O 3 NPs) within the glass network. The increase in ultrasonic velocities is due to the increase in rigidity and change in structural units of the glass system. The softening temperature and the microhardness increased with the increase in Nd 3+ ions concentration from 0.1 to 0.2 mol and decreased when the Nd 3+ ions concentration increased from 0.2 to 0.5 mol. Poisson's ratio and Debye's temperature decreased with the increase in the Nd 3+ ions concentration from 0.1 to 0.2 mol and increased when the Nd 3+ ions concentration was increased from 0.2 to 0.5 mol.

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From the agricultural waste of rice (rice husk), high purity SiO2 with about 98.548 % purity was extracted using a very simple room temperature leaching method. Using the rice husk extracted silicate, a system of silicate borotellurite glasses was fabricated with composition equation [(TeO2)0.7 (B2O3)0.3]1-x (SiO2)x with x= 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4. The density and molar volume were measured, and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and UV-Vis analyses were performed on the glasses. Both the density and molar volume decreased and the XRD pattern confirmed the glasses' amorphous nature. The FTIR showed the presence of TeO3, TeO4, BO3, BO2O, SiO4, and H3BO3 structural units in the glasses. The concentrations of TeO3, TeO4, BO3 and BO2O structures were determined by the deconvolution of the FTIR spectra using an Origin software. The optical energy band gap, index of refraction, oxygen packing density (OPD), molar refractive index, metallization criterion and polaron radius were determined for the glasses. Based on the glass transparency, high refractive index value (2.3026 and 2.2937) and metallization criterion (0.4109 and 0.4132) of the glasses with x= 0.1 and 0.2 have potential for fiber and optical non-linear applications.

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