Abstract: Lead silicate glasses containing 40?65 mol% of PbO were prepared at two melt-quenching rates and characterized by X-ray diffraction, UV-Visible absorption spectroscopy, density, microhardness, thermo-mechanical analysis, differential scanning calorimetry and Raman scattering studies. On increasing the PbO concentration, density increases, glass transition temperature decreases and the optical absorption edge shifts towards longer wavelength. An intense optical absorption band was observed just below the absorption edge in glasses with 55 mol% and higher concentration of PbO. Dilatometric measurements show an unusual property that glasses do not show any abrupt increase in volume near the glass transition temperature but transform directly into the liquid state. Raman spectroscopy confirmed that the concentration of SiO4 tetrahedra containing one or more NBOs increase with PbO mol%. Devitrification studies on lead silicate glasses found that samples with 40-45 mol% of PbO do not crystallize, whereas samples with higher PbO concentration produce multiple crystalline phases like PbSiO3, Pb33Si24O81, Pb2SiO4 and Pb3Si2O7 on heat treatment.

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