The hydroxyl content in phosphate glass has a significant influence on its properties. This research investigated the effect of dehydroxylation on the structure and properties of ZnCl2-ZnO-P2O5 glasses. The substitution of ZnCl2 for ZnO reduces the hydroxyl content and increases the phosphate chain length thus improving the chemical durability and UV transmittance of the glass. The structural changes with the glass composition were gauged by Frill and (31)p MAS-NMR spectroscopies. The FTIR and P-31 MAS-NMR spectra indicated that the Q(2) structural units increase with increasing ZnCl2 content in the xZnCl(2)-(50 - x)ZnO-50P(2)O(5) glass system. (C) 2009 Published by Elsevier B.V.