Predicting Structure-Mechanical and Thermal Properties Relationships for Cadmium-Borate Glasses

In this work, the mechanical and thermal properties of binary cadmium borate xCdO–(100−x)B₂O₃ glasses (30 mol.% ≤ x ≤ 45 mol.%) were analyzed and predicted. The decrease in elastic moduli, glass transition temperature, and thermal stability with increasing CdO content was attributed to the partial conversion of BO₄ groups into BO₃ groups and the creation of non-bridging oxygens according to the structural modification: CdO + 2B-O-B → B-O⁻ Cd^{2+ −}O-B. The total packing density, mean atomic volume, fractal bond connectivity, and total dissociation energy per unit volume of the glass were estimated and correlated with the mechanical and thermal properties based on the Makishima-Mackenzie theory, Rocherulle et al. model, and Abd El-Moneim and Alfifi's approach. Both the Makishima-Mackenzie theory and Rocherulle et al. model appear to be valid for 30CdO–70B₂O₃ and 35CdO–65B₂O₃ glass samples. Excellent agreement was achieved between the theoretically calculated and experimentally determined values of elastic moduli. The Makishima-Mackenzie theory predicted the elastic moduli of the 40CdO–60B₂O₃ and 45CdO–55B₂O₃ glass samples more accurately than the Rocherulle et al. model. Meanwhile, the Rocherulle et al. model predicted Poisson's ratio results more accurately than the Makishima-Mackenzie theory.