Nucleation and crystallization of a lithium aluminosilicate glass

An aluminosilicate glass of composition 61SiO(2) . 6Al(2)O(3) . 10MgO . 6ZnO . 12Li(2)O . 5TiO(2) (mol%) has been prepared by a melting process and investigated as far as crystallization is concerned. Glass-ceramic is easily obtained because glass shows a high tendency to crystallize starting from 700 degrees C. The crystalline phases evolve with temperature, showing the aluminosilicates to be the main phase up to 1050 degrees C, followed by metasilicates and silicates, some of which have lower melting points. The titanates of Mg and Zn develop from the phase-separated glass, soon after T-g, and grow to form nucleation centers for the other crystalline phases. The evolution from phase-separated glass to glass-ceramic has been followed by many thermal, diffractometric, spectroscopic, and microscopic techniques.