Influence of heat treatment conditions on the precipitation and dissolution of lead sulfide nanocrystals in sodium zinc silicate glasses

The influence of the temperature of the primary heat treatment in the case of two-stage heat treatment of glasses on the kinetics of precipitation of PbS nanocrystals and the structure of the glass-ceramic materials prepared has been investigated. The main structural parameters of the glass-ceramic material, such as the radius of lead sulfide nanocrystals, relative volume of the crystalline phase, concentration of nanocrystals, and dispersion of nanocrystal sizes, have been determined under different heat treatment conditions. It has been demonstrated that a variation in the temperature of the primary heat treatment in the range below the glass transition temperature of the glass matrix makes it possible to control the nanocrystal sizes and to obtain close-to-monodisperse size distributions of nanocrystals.