Innovative Technique for Purification of Phosphate Glass for Protective Solar Cell Energy Application

P 2 O 5 -BaO-Al 2 O 3 glasses (GPBA) was synthesized through melt-quenching technique. In this work, we investigate the effect of thermal treatment and acid leaching process on structural, optical and electrical properties of our sample. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns indicate that the phosphate glasses remain amorphous after purification. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis showed that annealing temperature leads to the formation of rod-like crystals and impurity migration to the surface, while purification results in an ultra-smooth surface with no crystals or impurities. Optical transmittance spectra revealed that purification process increase from 35 to 92% due to the reduction of surface defects. Atomic absorption spectroscopy analysis (AAS) showed substantial reduction in all metallic impurities in GPBA after purification cycles improving the purity from 99.92 to 99.99%. The electrical conductivity of GPBA glass decreases with increasing annealing temperature, but after acid leaching, it increases with chemical process, indicating the elimination of impurities and defects. Our results suggest that purified glass can be a suitable material for protective glass in photovoltaic applications due to its high optical transmittance and electrical conductivity.