Mössbauer analysis of crystallization processes in iron-soda-lime-silicate glasses

⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy was used to observe the crystallization process in glasses with composition denoted by 0.50SiO₂, 0.45Na₂O, 0.05CaO]100-x(Fe₂O₃)_x with x equal to 4, 10 and 16 mol%. It is shown that Mössbauer spectroscopy is a very suitable technique for detecting and checking the very early stages of crystallite formation in amorphous materials. The crystallization process was observed and qualitatively analysed by means of classical volume nucleation theory.