Characterizing the residual glass in a MgO/Al₂O₃/SiO₂/ZrO₂/Y₂O₃ glass-ceramic

The non-isochemical crystallization of glasses leads to glass-ceramics in which the chemical composition of the amorphous matrix differs from that of the parent glass. It is challenging to solely analyse the properties of these residual glassy phases because they frequently contain finely dispersed crystals. In this study, the composition of the residual glass matrix after the crystallization of a glass with the mol% composition 50.6 SiO₂ · 20.7 MgO · 20.7 Al₂O₃ · 5.6 ZrO₂ · 2.4 Y₂O₃ is analysed by scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) including energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDXS). A batch of the residual glass with the determined composition is subsequently melted and selected properties are analysed. Furthermore, the crystallization behaviour of this residual glass is studied by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy including electron backscatter diffraction and STEM-EDXS analyses. The residual glass shows sole surface crystallization of indialite and multiple yttrium silicates while bulk nucleation does not occur. This is in contrast to the crystallization behaviour of the parent glass, in which a predominant bulk nucleation of spinel and ZrO₂ is observed. The crystallization of the residual glass probably leads to different crystalline phases when it is in contact to air, rather than when it is enclosed within the microstructure of the parent glass-ceramics.