Effects of LiPO3 glass crystallisation

The LiPO₃ glass crystallisation has been investigated with calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy, optical microscopy and X-ray powder diffraction. It was discovered that the crystallisation at a given temperature depends on the thermal prehistory of the sample. It is shown that the cooled samples can change over the course of several hours. From the microphotographs, it is clear that the surface crystallisation mechanism is predominant for this glass. The velocities of the crystallisation front expansion for 425, 440, 460 °C are 4.9, 18.6 and 34.5 μm/min, respectively.