Abstract: Optical basicity is a scale for acidity and basicity, a reflection of structure and has significant effects on chemical and physical properties of glasses. In this paper, the conception, experimental determination and theoretical computations of optical basicity of glasses were introduced. The relationships between optical basicity and electronegativity of elements, polarizability of oxide ion, O1s binding energy in glasses were reviewed. The qualitative and quantitative relationships between optical basicity and other parameters were discussed and analyzed. The nature and dependence parameters of optical basicity were concluded. It was also prospected that the further researches possibly focus on application and the correlations of optical basicity in different glass systems.

Key words: optical basicity%glasses%element electronegativity%ion polarizability%O1s binding energy