Abstract This work mainly focuses on the generation of white light from sodium antimony zinc borate (BNZS) glasses as well as by introducing silver ions into the glass matrix through the Na+–Ag+ ion-exchange method. The glasses of 40B2O3–10Na2O–(50−x) ZnO–xSb2O3 (in mol) where x = 0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 were prepared through melt quenching technique and are characterised by XRD, UV–VIS–NIR absorption spectra, photoluminescence, Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) techniques. CIE 1931 chromaticity colour coordinates for all base glasses without silver fall within the blue region. Based on the ion-exchange duration, the colour coordinates shifted from blue to white light with the introduction of silver ions into the glass. This is due to the formation of silver nanoclusters of various dimensions and concentrations by different reduction and aggregation mechanisms in the glass matrix. The mechanism behind the evolution of white light generation has been analysed using the Raman and XPS spectral analysis. Traditional phosphors containing rare earth ions are widely used in displays, lasers, optical amplifiers, and white light-emitting diodes, having limitations such as narrow emission bands, low thermal stability, and their scarcity as well as high cost. Hence, this paper explores the generation of white light from rare earth-free glasses by embedding optically active nanoparticles into it and postmodifying its properties.Graphical abstract
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