TY - CONF A1 - Heuser, Lina A1 - de Oliveira Guilherme Buzanich, Ana A1 - Radtke, Martin A1 - Agudo Jácome, Leonardo A1 - Feldmann, Ines A1 - Deubener, J. T1 - Silver diffusion in low-melting alkali zinc borate model glasses studied by means of SNMS, TEM and XAS N2 - In many late-breaking research fields as in photovoltaics, microelectronics, nuclear waste glasses or at least mirror glasses silver diffusion in glasses is relevant to the issues of high-level functionality and recycling. The present study is focused on silver diffusion in innovative, low-melting alkali zinc borate glasses (X2O-ZnO-B2O3, X = Li, Na, K, Rb) potentially usable for silver metallization-pastes in solar cells. The glasses were coated with a thin metallic silver layer and heat treatments in air and nitrogen close to Tg at 470 °C for 2 h were performed. After heat treatment under air and nitrogen atmospheres the coating thickness, measured by a white light interferometer, was about 1.8 µm thick. Silver depth profiles determined by means of secondary neutral mass spectrometry (SNMS) indicate the fastest silver diffusion to a depth of 3.5 µm for Li2O-ZnO-B2O3 (LZB) glass. Nevertheless, the influence of the different alkali ions on the silver diffusion is small. The oxygen availability determines the silver diffusion into the glasses. The oxygen promotes the oxidation of the silver layer enabling Ag+ to diffuse into the glass and to precipitate as Ag0. Both species were detected by x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). The precipitated metallic silver particles in Na2O-ZnO-B2O3 (NZB) glass have a mean size of 5.9 nm ± 1.2 nm diameter, which was determined using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Phase separation in zinc-rich and zinc-poor phases with a mean diameter of 75 nm ± 20 nm occurred in NZB glass after heat treatment. Ion diffusion of the glasses into the silver layer was suggested by EDX-line scans. T2 - 94. Glastechnische Tagung CY - Online meeting DA - 10.05.2021 KW - Silver diffusion KW - Alkali zinc borate glass KW - Metallic silver precipitates KW - Phase separation PY - 2021 AN - OPUS4-52861 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -