In this study, investigation on photoluminescence and optical properties of europium doped zinc silicate (Zn2SiO4:Eu3+) glass ceramics derived from white rice husk ash as potential silica source have been done. Undoped and 3 wt. % of europium doped zinc silicate were prepared by solid state method and sintered at 600-1000 °C for 2 h. XRD analysis revealed the phase formation of amorphous, α or β-Zn2SiO4:Eu3+ phases of the glass and glass ceramic samples. FESEM results show the samples were irregular in shapes but well connected and formed large grain crystallites as sintering temperatures increases. The optical band gap values for undoped samples are increasing from 2.97 eV to 3.39 eV respectively. Meanwhile, the optical band gap values for 3 wt. % Eu3+ doped samples decrease from 4.14 eV to 2.62 eV and increase again to 3.71 eV as sintering temperature increases. PL analysis concludes that the red emission exhibited corresponding to 5D0 → 7F2 electron configuration at 612 nm while excitation spectra was found at 400 nm attributed to 7F0 → 5L6 transition. As conclusion, Eu3+ doped Zn2SiO4 glasses has potential as glass host phosphor which can be used for optical devices such as plasma display panels (PDPs) and cathode ray tubes.

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For the very first time, a study on the crystallization growth of zinc silicate glass and glass-ceramics was done, in which white rice husk ash (WRHA) was used as the silicon source. In this study, zinc silicate glass was fabricated by using melt–quenching methods based on the composition (ZnO)0.55(WRHA)0.45, where zinc oxide (ZnO) and white rice husk ash were used as the raw materials. The control crystallization technique was used in which the sample was sintered at 700–950 °C; then, the physical, structural, and optical properties of the glass and glass-ceramics were investigated by using a densitometer, linear shrinkage, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared radiation (FTIR), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL). The density and linear shrinkage increased as the crystallinity increased and the XRD results showed the progression of the crystal formation, in which the sample was still in an amorphous state at 27 °C and 700 °C; the crystalline phase started at 750 °C. Based on the FTIR spectra, all samples showed sharpened absorption bands as the sintering temperature was increased, and the FESEM image showed the progression of crystal growth, indicating the formation of zinc silicate glass-ceramics. Lastly, the PL spectra emitted three emission peaks, at 529, 570, and 682 nm for the green, yellow, and red emission, respectively.

In this research, Tm 2 O 3 doped zinc silicate based glass-ceramics were prepared by using conventional melt-quenching method and has been successfully derived from ZnO-WRHA glasses with control heat treatment process. The formation of zinc silicate phase affected by heat treatment process was investigated using X-ray diffraction. Fourier transform infrared reflection spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis was used to determine the crystallization of Zn 2 SiO 4 in the glass matrix. FTIR analysis showed the appearance of Zn 2 SiO 4 and SiO 2 bands that supported the formation of Zn 2 SiO 4 crystal phase in the glass matrix. The optical absorption and energy band gap of the glass and glass-ceramics was investigated using UV-Vis spectroscopy. The absorption edge shows the movement towards longer wavelength with increasing heat treatment temperature. Besides, the energy band gap decreased with the progression of heat treatment. This ability to enhance optical properties in glass-ceramics was expected to have bright future in the opto-electronics devices.

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