Characterization of Li2O-Al2O3-SiO2 glass-ceramics produced from a Brazilian spodumene concentrate

Abstract

Glass-ceramics in the LAS (Li2O-Al2O3-SiO2) system with high thermal shock resistance were successfully obtained using Brazilian spodumene concentrate as the main raw material (80-70 wt%). Two compositions (Li2O.Al2O3.nSiO2) were produced with n= 2 and 4, near to the stoichiometric compositions of β-eucryptite and β-spodumene. The characteristic temperatures of parent glasses were determined by contact dilatometry, differential scanning calorimetry and heating microscopy. The crystallization mechanism and the effect of the nucleating agent (TiO2.2ZrO2) required to promote volume crystallization in the parent glasses were investigated. Microstructural and structural changes with temperature were also evaluated by optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The obtained glass-ceramics presented coefficients of thermal expansion between -0.370×10-6 and 4.501×10-6 °C-1 in the 22 to 700 °C range.