Structure and properties of nonconventional glasses in the binary bismuth cuprate system

The glass structure and physical properties are reported for the nonconventional binary bismuth cuprate glasses of compositions (CuO${)}_{\mathit{x}}$(${\mathrm{Bi}}_2$${\mathrm{O}}_3$${)}_{100\mathrm{-}\mathit{x}}$, for x=27–70 mol %, prepared by the roller-quenching technique. It has been observed that stable glasses with nearly the same topology can be obtained in this system for a larger composition range compared to the multicomponent bismuth cuprate glasses. The network structure is built up of [${\mathrm{BiO}}_3$] pyramidal units. The strength and connectivity of the glassy network increase at nearly equimolar glass composition. The nearly equimolar glass composition crystallizes to tetragonal ${\mathrm{Bi}}_2$${\mathrm{CuO}}_4$ crystal. The appearance of hyperfine structure in the ESR line shapes for the glass compositions with high CuO content is not clear at this moment.