Production of muscovite-feldspathic glass composite: scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis

The objective of this work was to find the sintering conditions for the feldspathic glass + muscovite mixture to produce a dense composite block for manufacturing dental prosthesis by using CAD-CAM. Each 20g of the glass-frit had : 15.55g of Armil-feldspar; 0.53g of Al2O3; 1.56g of Na2CO3; 0.5g of borax; 1.74g of K2CO3; 0.13g of CeO2. Frit's powder finer than 350 Tyler mesh was mixed with 0 wt%, 10 wt%, 20 wt% and 100 wt% of muscovite pressed cylinders (5600 pounds force) 16mm in diameter and sintered under vacuum Vacumat (VITA) furnace at 850 deg C, 900 deg C, 950 deg C, 1000 deg C, 1050 deg C, 1100 deg C and 1150 deg C. X-ray diffraction analysis and scanning electron microscopy were carried out. The necessary temperature for high densification depended on the composition of the mixture: 850 deg C (for pure frit); 1050 deg C (for 10 wt% mica) and 1150 deg C (for 20 wt% mica); pure mica degraded during sintering. (author)