Crystallization studies of lithium borosilicate glasses

Lithium borosilicate ternary system is analogous to the most commercially exploited Na/sub 2/O-B/sub 2/O/sub 3/-SiO/sub 2/ system. The tendency towards liquid-liquid immiscibility is enhanced when sodium is replaced by lithium, which facilitates the crystallization process. In the present work, three compositions of lithium borosilicate glasses were formulated and melted by varying the mol percent ratio of SiO/sub 2/ and Lip. The glasses were subsequently subjected to crystallization by isothermal heat-treatments at identical temperatures for various specific time durations. The crystal growth was found to be linear and the rate of crystallization was dependent on SiO/sub 2//Li/sub 2/O ratio. The phases that developed during heat-treatments were identified using XRD. (author)