Study of devitrification of Dicor® glass

The nucleation and crystallization of tetrasilicic fluormica crystals in the Dicor® group of glass ceramics is not as well understood as the crystallization sequence of trisilicic mica in the Macor group of glass ceramics. The main aim of this investigation was to obtain kinetic data of crystallization and to examine the devitrification process at different stages of heat treatment during non-isothermal heating. The kinetic parameters, such as the activation energy, Ec, the reaction order, n, and the frequency factor, v, for the devitrification reaction were computed using the Johnson-Mehl-Avrami (JMA) equation and the data from differential thermal analysis (DTA). The crystallization at different stages of devitrification was evaluated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations, and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy with KBr-reflectance technique.