Praseodymia-silica glass samples with high praseodymia content (5 wt%) were prepared by the sol-gel process. Amino
alkoxy silane was used to immobilize the Pr -3 cation in the silica (derived from tetraethyl orthosilicate) matrix. The gel to glass transformation was examined by ultraviolet, visible, near infrared and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy at different stages of drying/densification up to IO00°C. The X-ray microanalysis for praseodymium throughout the bulk glass samples confirmed the homogeneous distribution of the Pr +3 in the matrix
