P–O–B3 linkages in borophosphate glasses evidenced by high field 11B/31P correlation NMR

Abstract

The long-standing debate about the presence of P–O–B³ linkages in glasses has been solved by high-field scalar correlation NMR. Previously suggested by dipolar NMR methods, the presence of such species has been definitively demonstrated by ¹¹B(³¹P) J-HMQC NMR techniques. The results indicate that borophosphate networks contain P–O–B³ bonds and thus present a higher degree of atomic homogeneity than previously thought.