Structural and Optical Characterisation of Hydrogenated Soda-Lime Silicate Glasses Doped with Silver and Copper

The results of comparative studies of the effect of hydrogenation upon structural and optical properties of the commercial soda-lime silicate glasses doped either with monovalent silver or copper have been presented. The samples were characterised by means of the scanning and transmission electron microscopy and the UV-VIS-IR absorption spectroscopy. It has been shown that the annealing of suitably ion-exchanged specimens in gaseous hydrogen atmosphere could be considered as an effective procedure for obtaining composite materials of expected properties correlated with the induced changes of the morphology of both the glassy matrix and the dopant.