Influence of morphology and processing on XPS characterisation of SrO-Ca-ZnO-SiO₂ glass

A study was conducted to demonstrate the influence of morphology and processing on X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) characterization SrO-Ca-ZnO-SiO₂ glass. The glass formulation being investigated was originally synthesized for developing a novel glass polyalkenoate cement (GPC). High resolution photoelectron spectra of Zn 2p, Ca 2p, Sr 3d, Si 2p, O 1s, and C 1s were recorded for the different forms of glass. It was observed that there was preferential enrichment of Zn²⁺ with an increase in the proportion of NBO for the investigated BT101 glass. The relative atomic concentration of Zn in BT101 glass was high and resulted in a steeper diffusion gradient. Zn²⁺ Zn²⁺ was small as compared to Ca ²⁺, revealing that smaller cations migrated and enriched the surface.