Crystallization, microstructure and properties of selected glasses and glass-ceramics in the SiO2-Li2O-ZnO-K2O-P2O5 system

Abstract

The crystallization behavior of selected glasses in the multicomponent SiO2-Li2O-ZnO-K2O-P2O5 system was investigated using high-temperature X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry. Proceeding from a dental model glass with the molar composition 63.2 SiO2, 29.1 Li2O, 3.3 ZnO, 2.9 K2O and 1.5 P2O5, 20 glasses were melted, varying the concentrations of the single components systematically. Glass compositions mainly influenced the formations and dissolutions of metastable and stable phases in the temperature range of 480 to 1100 °C. In the majority of the glasses hthium disilicate (Li2Si2O5) precipitated as the main crystal phase during heating, while lithium metasilicate, lithium orthophosphate, cristobalite and quartz crystallized as secondary phases. After a one-step heat treatment microstructures of glass-ceramics and morphologies of Li2Si2O5 crystals were characterized by scanning electron microscopy. With few exceptions glass-ceramics showed a finegrained microstructure with interlocking, rodshaped Li2Si2O5 crystals with 0.5 to 10 µm in length. The corresponding glass-ceramics were processed by a hot-pressing technique to test samples for mechanical and optical measurements. Concentration variations of the base glasses caused bending strengths between 224 and 675 MPa. Within a comparison of translucency according to dental standard BS 5612 contrast ratios between 0.3 and 0.8 were determined.