Devitrification Behavior of Calcium Phosphate Glasses Containing Al2O3 and SiO2 Additives

The effects of Al₂O₃ and SiO₂ additives on the crystallization of calcium phosphate glasses were studied. When the Al₂O₃ content was higher than 7 mol%, surface devitrification occurred in the glasses. However, for glasses with Al₂O₃ contents higher than 10 mol%, bulk devitrification predominanted. For the glasses with SiO₂, a surface devitrification mechanism predominanted. Non-isothermal DTA techniques were applied in order to establish the devitrification mechanism, and the kinetic parameters of crystal growth were obtained. The parameter m depends on the mechanism and morphology of devitrification of calcium phosphate, glass containing SiO₂ as additive, the values of m being lower than 1.2. These results indicate that the devitrification is controlled by the reaction at the glass-crystal interface, or occurs from surface nuclei. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.