Effect of iron and sodium inclusion on some properties of silicate glass

Sodium silicate glasses with a fixed molar percentage of iron and varying percentages of sodium alkali have been synthesized by the method of melt quenching in air. The variation of glass transition temperatures Tg in this series can be correlated to the relative fractions of Fe2+ and Fe3+ as well as Na+ ions present in these glasses. UV-Visible spectra showed a trend of optical band gap with Na concentration which is related to the fraction of non-bridging oxygen atoms present in each glass. Magnetization studies showed these glasses to be purely paramagnetic at room temperature but at a temperature of 5K, to have some ferromagnetic character with a ten-fold enhanced magnetization.