Crystallization Kinetics of Lithium Diborate Glass by DTA

Abstract

The crystallization process of Li₂B₄O₇ in the glass of stoichiometric composition, characterized by the crystal growth of pre-existing nuclei, was analyzed kinetically by means of DTA. Because the number of pre-existing nuclei for the subsequent growth varies depending on the cooling rate of the glass-forming melt and heating rate of the as-prepared glass, a modified Kissinger plot was applied for evaluating the apparent activation energy to the crystal growth in the glass samples with three different thermal histories, i.e., the pre-annealed, slowly quenched and quickly quenched glasses. The process was characterized by the three dimensional growth of pre-existing nuclei with the apparent activation energy of ca 340 kJ mol⁻¹.