New glass compositions in the system 1-x(SbPO4-ZnO-PbO)-xMnO (with 0 ≤ x ≤ 20 in mol%) were prepared by melt-quenching methodology. Thermal, structural and optical properties of the new glasses were systematically studied by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), UV-Vis and Raman spectroscopy, fluorescence and electronic paramagnetic resonance (EPR). The addition of MnO increases the thermal stability of the glasses with Tx – Tg close to 140 ºC for higher Mn contents. EPR measurements show that Mn2+ ions are in octahedral arrangement which is in agreement with UV-Vis and luminescence results. Samples present red luminescence when excited with 408 nm source.

In this work we report a systematic study on the influence of the chemical nature of silver precursors on the formation of glass-ceramics from oxide glasses. Thermal, structural and optical properties were analyzed as a function of the glass composition. Controlled crystallization was achieved by thermal treatment of the samples above glass transition. The influence of time of treatment on both nanoparticle growth and optical properties of the samples was studied by transmission electron microscopy and UV-Vis spectroscopy, respectively. Results showed that only glasses containing AgCl and AgNO3 led to glass-ceramics growth after thermal treatment.